<p>In an earlier post beenthereanddone, whose daughter had just graduated from Gettysburg, had said that the student body leans way right. We certainly take direct experience as most valuable in terms of getting insight and are grateful for that input. Nonetheless, our fair-minded liberal-leaning daughter found the campus to be most appealing when we toured in February. Our tour guide was from upstate NY and a political science major; based on the activities she engaged in we thought she was clearly not conservative. When we asked her (alone) about the conservativeness of the campus she said "it's about 50/50." Of course we know that certain answers, like % of kids in Greek life, often reflect Admissions' desired messages. Our tour guide was absolutely in love with the school and her enthusiasm (and kindness, brightness) definitely influenced our daughter. Our daughter is someone who can see both sides of an argument and has a wide and diverse circle of friends. But I think she would not be happy in a place that was so clearly defined by conservative beliefs. She is looking at ED at either Union or Gettysburg. It seems like Gettysburg is trying to diversify in many ways. Thoughts? Thanks.</p>
<p>My freshman D is very liberal. She’s only been there 7 weeks, but is perfectly happy. Election season is in full swing and she’s never mentioned any sort of political culture at Gettysburg…left or right.</p>
<p>Our daughter is a freshman at Gettysburg and is very happy there. She settled in very quickly and really seems to enjoy it. She was drawn to Gettysburg by the school spirit she saw when she visited and others talk about. Anyone we have ever asked about gburg say they ‘loved’ it there.
She is very liberal and is really excited about voting for the first time this fall. I am not really sure of the definition of ‘way right’ or ‘very conservative’ and whether this is the case, but she happened to mention last weekend that many of her new gburg friends are pro Romney. Depending on your view, this may or may not answer your question.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore at Gettysburg. I would not say the campus leans way right but there is definitely a slight conservative edge. This does not mean liberals cant be happy here-- Im a democrat and have plenty of staunch conservative friends. There are a lot of Poli Sci majors who take advantage of the Eisenhower Institute here ([Eisenhower</a> Institute at Gettysburg College](<a href=“http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/]Eisenhower”>http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/)), anyone interested in politics ought to look at it! Politics are definitely not divisive here in the least. </p>
<p>Gettysburg is Indeed stepping up diversification.</p>
<p>I think the perception is that Gettysburg leans right, but I’m not convinced that is the reality. My daughter recently was in a discussion group where the kids were asked to identify their political affiliations, and there was a lone Republican in the group; the rest were Democrats. She feels that if anything, the campus is slightly more left leaning. But, that said, there are both liberal and conservative groups on campus, so I don’t think anyone would feel like an outcast.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your reports and insights. It is very helpful in getting the full picture. We are visiting again/D is interviewing in late October. I will keep you posted!</p>
<p>My son is a freshman. He is currently in a political science class. We asked him how the class leaned and if the discussions were interesting. He said that the discussions were interesting - students were prepared - respectful - made interesting points etc… He also mentioned that the group / class is very mixed in terms of political views (which he felt made the discussions more interesting) but respectful of one another. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I never stated that atmosphere was anti-liberal or in any way hostile, I merely stated what I saw during my daughters time at Gettysburg College, the student body leans way right. I stand by that statement. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t civil discussions, it means that the majority of students come with a conservative leaning opinion. This is a largely white, upper middle, to just plain upper class group of students. It is not suprising that they have grown up with a conservative political background. Ron Paul is an alum! The college says they are committed to bringing more diversity to campus and with that you may see some more diversity among the incoming classes. I hope so. Good luck.</p>
<p>I dont know if Id go so far as to say that the college leans way right. I would apply that label to Grove City College, Brigham Young, and colleges associated with evangelical Christians, as examples. I would say that Gettysburg is probably fairly evenly split. But because the majority of colleges (and young people) lean decidedly toward the left, I could see how a middle-of-the-road campus may appear as conservative.</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from Gettysburg in 2011 and she said that the campus seemed kind of neutral. She did say that there was a lot of support for Obama during the last election and described a party atmosphere on campus when he won. Many students went to DC for the inauguration, including my daughter and her friends, and Im not even sure if they all voted for him. But they recognized his election as a historic event and wanted to be a part of it.</p>
<p>And whatever you may think of Ron Paul, no college can be held accountable for the political leanings of its alumni. When Ron Paul was campaigning in 2008, its notable that he was not invited to speak on campus but held a rally at the Majestic Theater off-campus. However, Chelsea Clinton was invited to speak on campus when campaigning for Hillary. Both events were fairly well attended, but the Ron Paul rally had more town people and Chelseas audience was almost all students.</p>
<p>Just a side note: just because someone is upper middle class does not make one conservative. The area where I live could be classified as upper middle class and Id say my neighbors and friends are all over the political spectrum.</p>
<p>The kids I’ve come to know after ~3.5 years are kind, smart, curious, outgoing, persistent and optimistic. Political leanings or affiliations have, quite literally, never come up.
Good luck.</p>
<p>while conservatives are made to feel uncomfortable at many liberal schools, it is not part of conservative belief system to try and preach or make liberals feel bad or unwelcome. it is a big difference in approaches. Gettysburg is an amazing school and your child may learn a lot being around people not like her.(is diversity of opinion something she is interested in?)</p>
<p>As I said about my daughter in the original post, “Our daughter is someone who can see both sides of an argument and has a wide and diverse circle of friends.” I hope her college education will expose her to a wide range of people and ideas. I don’t want to turn this into a political debate, but I don’t believe that one political group can claim to be more tolerant of dissimilar views. I don’t think my daughter would be comfortable in a place that was intolerant of gays, for example, just as a strict conservative person may not be comfortable in a place that identifies as leaning way left. I was just trying to discern the reality of the college culture.</p>