Are Tufts students militant in their liberalism or are they willing to listen to both sides and have an open academic debate? I am just curious as IK they are on avg very liberal but to what extent is open conversation encouraged among teachers and peers?
There’s no such thing as a “they” when it comes to a college student body. Out of several thousand people there might be a few hundred who are so completely over the top in their advocacy or so deeply mired in their misery that they can’t be talked to. Lots of people talk politics. Just don’t take it personally, if you don’t change a lot of minds.
Even in places known for loud activism, you can find peers with more moderate views who fear voicing them.
Tufts was embroiled in a controversy recently where the school admins took away club recognition of a student religious group… the student group appealed and got their club status restored (but only after media attention). I would tread carefully…
As long as a school isn’t Reed or Sarah Lawrence, a non-liberal can survive there. Basically, what I’m saying is that if the school is not incredibly small nor 100% liberal, then there will definitely be someone there that agrees with you. Also, there are hardly any schools that are “militant” in their liberalism in this country. If protests happen, then that’s free speech. If violence happens, then that’s militancy. The only schools that I can think of that are militant liberal schools based on recent events would be Berkeley and Middlebury (but even Midd has some conservatism). Tufts may be liberal, but far from militant.
A classmate of our D who graduated in May from Tufts is conservative leaning (I doubt he’s a Trump fan though) and found Tufts quite liberal but not uncomfortable. He was more annoyed by how overly politically correct it was (not sure what prompted that comment.)
Let’s be frank. These arguments are almost never over tax policy, the intricacies of the health care system, raising the debt ceiling, or that other, truly hot-button issue - banking regulation!
Ninety-nine percent of campus flare-ups involve identity politics - gender, race or religion - all subjects I personally would not bring up in a work environment. Why should I hold an 18 y/o to a higher standard than I would middle-aged adults?
Hi, I’m a sophomore at Tufts. I would say the campus is pretty politically correct, and yes definitely strongly liberal leaning. There are so many people in the Tufts Dems Club and like… so few in the Tufts Republicans Club. That being said, there have been instances where the opposite side has been unwilling to listen to the other side. (See Gov. Charlie Baker’s visit to Tufts - it’s on the Daily website). But there are some people that are open minded too.
Generally, tread carefully re: political stuff. If you live on campus, it can get kind of annoying since you’re hearing it 24/7. (For me, it definitely shaped me into a more politically active person.) Many of my upperclassmen friends says after you live off campus it gets better.