Unfortunately, all four of these universities have been flagged by this conservative watchdog organization as being ideologically captured by leftists and unsafe for freethinkers and conservatives: https://criticalrace.org/
My D went to a Brothers of the Holy Cross HS and Iād say half the staff were ND grads so we visited when my D was college searching. It wasnāt a good fit for engineering for my D but we got a very similar vibe at ND as was in her HS. An environment that was religious but people were respectful of other beliefs and opinions. I canāt imagine anyone feeling āunsafe for being free thinkersā at ND.
Hereās an article from the ND student paper about free speech on campus and their FIRE rating: FIRE Ranks Notre Dame 31 in Free Speech Environment - Irish Rover
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Thanks for taking the time to answer I appreciate it, and she is familiar with a lot of the lists and flags in her own research. This post, to stay on topic ,is about if anyone happens to have an actual personal experience. Probably that list is best on the political forum. Thanks again
Do you have any additional personal anecdotes?
Now THAT is a helpful on topic response. Grazias! Again that was awfully nice of you. The research methodologies by FIRE are cited and come from student experiences, and they removed data from universities seen as having homogenous POVS which only lends more credibility to their findings.
If you donāt have an anecdote as the post requests you may like to enjoy this topic of interest to you on the political forum. I have specifically asked people not to do what you are doing so I am asking you directly again and nicely to let us make the most of asking for real experiences from people who have them, on behalf of our child.
I do not have any personal experience at these schools, but the following might be related to OPās question. Around January 31, 2023, the board members at the UNC Chapel Hill has unanimously passed a resolution āto accelerate the creation of a School of Civic Life and Leadershipā¦with a dedicated faculty team, that would promote public discourseā. Some interpret this āas a way to create a safe haven of sorts for right-leaning thinkers on a campus full of leftistsā, and others find this to be ādeeply upsetting and unsettlingā. Quoted words are from a Washington Post article dated February 1, 2023; link is https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/01/unc-school-civic-life-leadership-sparks-debate/
The above might be behind a pay-wall.
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So much censorship in this thread on free speech. Iām going someplace where diverse opinions are valued.
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Thanks but again, please yaāll can I be any clearer about asking for anecdotes? I am an avid follower of news and we have seen the articles, the lists, the ratings by orgnaizations. We are going for people to people here. If you or your kid doesnāt have an experience to share the political forum is a better fit. i am not looking for folks to keep politicizing my post.
Also as a new user, may I bother to ask if anyone can explain why I have about 12 replies I canāt see from user names that donāt show up in the nesting on the post? They are in my notifications. Does anyone else find this set up of the way the posts appear confusing?
Since I cant give you my opinion, Iāll just say in my experience, anecdotally, this is not confusing to me.
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Itās possible those replies weāre flagged and hidden.
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Might I remind members of the forum rules: āOur forum is expected to be a friendly and welcoming place, and one in which members can post without their motives, intelligence, or other personal characteristics being questioned by others."
and
āCollege Confidential forums exist to discuss college admission and other topics of interest. It is not a place for contentious debate. If you find yourself repeating talking points, it might be time to step away and do something elseā¦ If a thread starts to get heated, it might be closed or heavily moderated.ā
The OP may certainly ask for specific information, but directing users on what they can and cannot post is something that cannot be done.
I will further add that a moderator can edit or delete any post that does not comply with either Terms of Service or the Forum Rules.
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Asking for current student/family feedback seems like a good idea. Is it possible to visit some of the campuses that your student cares about most? I saw this in another cc thread:
āVisit schools if at all possible, even if itās the virtual meetings. There were a few that I thought my son would love, and after stepping on campus/attending a virtual session, it was an immediate nope.ā (Apparently, the student said kids on one campus looked miserable.)
If you canāt visit, then do a web search of the schools in the news. See what they are doing on and off campus and in the community. Look up the student newspapers. Do a deep dive on the schoolās web site to see what they seek to provide as a learning experience.
Perhaps you can call up admissions and see if they can connect your student with another student who is currently at the school. They will be an anecdote of one, but hey, why not?
Good luck on your search!
UNC ā have a kid there. Very free. However, the board is full of old white Southerners that basically forced the last chancellor to resign because of her stance on silent Sam. Faculty and board do not see eye to eye.
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UNC is super liberal (I have one there). But agree the Board of Governors continually conflicts w the faculty.
I totally understand your concern about shaming someone based on whatever differences you have. My child is non binary and is only considering large southern schools with big sports, because they love sports and game day. We are from the NE, and gender fluidity is not a big deal.
I have decided that I wonāt in any way try to dissuade or discourage my child from going to their dream school. Will someone say something hateful to them about them to to them? Probably, but my child already knew that was a possibility. My view is that college is for getting out of your bubble, expanding your viewpoints and learning how to navigate adulthood. My child is capable of speaking up for themselves in a respectful manner and maybe they will be able to change someoneās mind by proving that even though they disagree with another personās political beliefs or preconceived ideas about being non binary, that they can put that aside and look at each other as humans who deserve to be treated with kindness.
I would just let my child navigate this on their own. If those are what they want in a school, let them go, grow and explore
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I wouldnāt want someone with conservative beliefs to be treated unfairly by a liberal professorā¦or vice versa.
I think conversations like this are difficult without real examples of this actually happening. I personally have never seen a single example. Whether it is in this thread, or the next one, I sure hope someone can provide an actual example of this happening. Just one.
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Have you visited these campuses? That seems like it would be a good thing to do.
I would also recommend you post this on Reddit (if you havenāt already)ā¦there are far more students there, and their opinions would likely be more valuable than that of many studentsā parents (who often have no idea/no idea what they are talking about, maybe they read something on the schoolās parentsā facebook page, things of that nature).
My very left leaning daughter from the northeast is at a big football school in SC and is enjoying being somewhere different and around folks with different viewpoints. She recently learned how to shoot her friendās rifle.
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