Does anyone know if/how the recent election has changed the political vibe at Georgetown? Anyone know how the whole city of D.C. has changed? Do you think more conservatives applied this year and will be attending due to the fact that we have a Rep in office? Just wondering the situation I could be entering as a prospective student.
As a current student, I can tell you that the political vibe is very very one sided, and vicious, to say the least. If you are a conservative you will likely be ostracized and treated like an outcast. The recent election has made things so much worse, and failure to go along with popular opinion will not be received well. To put things in perspective, the entire College Republican board voted for Hillary in the recent election. Obviously this is not something you are going to want to hear, but it is the truth. I am considering transferring out of Georgetown, anyway 
@bsadasiva16 I am actually not conservative. Although I don’t like a campus to be completely one sided, I was actually fearing the opposite, that the campus and city would now all lean republican since the last election. Thank you for sharing with me your experience.
Sounds like G’Town is the right fit for you then!
I would actually disagree with @bsadasiva16. While like basically any college campus the students lean heavily liberal, I would say that there is quite a vocal republican minority. There are several bipartisan events held jointly between the college dems and college republicans and there are speakers from all over the spectrum. The recent election has definitely heated up the animosity towards some republicans (mostly students who are active trump supporters) but in general I would say that it’s actually fairly bipartisan.
I disagree strongly with @bsadasiva16. Like any elite school, the student body leans left. But it is not as liberal as some of the Ivies and other elite schools, and I think there are two reasons for that:
- The Catholic/Jesuit aspect adds a bit of a conservative tinge to campus. That said, Jesuit values are very progressive, so I don't think it's an institutional bias; rather, Georgetown is just popular among conservative Catholics who wanted to attend a Catholic school. That said, it's not nearly as conservative (or religious) as a school like Notre Dame.
- Being in Washington draws activists of all stripes. For people who want hands-on involvement in politics, like interning on the Hill, as part of their undergraduate experience, Georgetown is a great fit regardless of political ideology.
I’d also add that while we have partisan groups like College Dems, College Republicans, Hoyas for Choice, and GU Right to Life, as any campus would, there are a number of bipartisan/nonpartisan organizations on campus as well. For example, I am a member of both the Georgetown Bipartisan Coalition (https://georgetownbipartisancoalition.com/) and the Institute of Politics and Public Service (https://politics.georgetown.edu/), which host speakers and events that appeal to students on both sides of the aisle.
I hope this helped!
@bsadasiva16 I was wondering, I am republican, but I completely tolerate others’ views and I am willing to work together for the common good. I tend to lean republican now, but once I learn about all the views in the correct manner, I consider myself to be “undecided” as of now if that makes sense. Will I be an outcast at Georgetown in terms of that? or will I have to act as if I am a democrat in order to fit in? I am dead serious about acting just to fit in.
@bsadasiva16 Not in terms of hanging out with people, but to fit into politics orientated events and meetings.
@IvyLeague2 Before this election, it would have been totally fine. But after the recent election, Republicans here tend to be associated with Trump before a word even comes out of their mouth. Furthermore, while all campuses lean left (That is a given), Georgetown’s political nature means that people are more VOCAL about their political views and the backlash against conservatives is a lot worse here than other campuses. There is very little tolerance for other viewpoints and the College Republican’s events to invite speakers to campus have constantly been shut down/censored. I will also have you know that Georgetown was in the top 10 schools for worst freedom of speech. (according to the Huffington Post)
In short, the campus culture is closed off, one sided and very highly polarized politically- this is why I am considering transferring out in the first place (as you may have already seen in my previous thread).
The accounts that have been portraying a rosy picture of life at Georgetown are campus guides/ tour leaders and it is their job to portray Georgetown as positively as possible. I am just here to tell you the truth
I completely agree. If you are a moderate Republican, or even undecided as you said you’re leaning towards, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about regarding fitting into political events.
A couple responses to @bsadasiva16:
- GUCR’s speakers have not been shut down. All I can think of was a controversy over a VERY Islamophobic speaker they invited (Nonie Darwish – look her up) that got lots of attention and led to the resignation of one of their board members.
- The Huff Post rating was just because of an incident at the Law Center (downtown, not on main campus) concerning the Bernie campaign last year. Don’t read too much into it; we didn’t get that rating because of what happens on main campus.
- We are less liberal than other elite institutions, and I tend to find actually that most people DON’T associate Republicans with Trump. Most Republicans here (including much of the GUCR board) didn’t vote Trump and people know that. Relative to other campuses, I actually think that moderate Republicans are treated quite well here.