<p>People often say that they don't apply to schools like Washington & Lee, Vanderbilt, or even Duke because they are too "southern."</p>
<p>I'm just curious what exactly this means. In other words, how do you define southern and why is it an unappealing (or appealing, depending on your viewpoint) feature?</p>
<p>below mason dixon line...but parts of new jersey are below the mason dixon line and that doesn't count.</p>
<p>i mean UVa is "southern" but not really that southern - a lot of kids from washington area are there...and washington isn't a southern city. But there is definately a mentality at the school that you would associate with "southern." When I got home I definately have to readjust completely to New Jersey me.</p>
<p>Duke isn't really southern as most of the kids there come from the north. also the kids there suck too much to be all from the south.</p>
<p>I guess its the way people dress, act, speak, ect. Not 1 thing I can point to specificly. But being southern isn't unappealing. I like it...some may not. If you can adjust you may just like it better than where you are. check it out!</p>
<p>My brother goes to school in the south- he complains about the "southerness" every once in a while. There are many smart, open minded people; but also plenty of people who shy away from differences between people rather than embrace them, making it slightly uncomfortable for someone not used to this environment. </p>
<p>Its like when there is a school that is 33% minority - yet at some parties there isn't one minority to be found - and the white kids could care less. they aren't actively racist, but are unintentionally that way.</p>
<p>I think you are referring to a negative perception of Southerners that people have. So, if you graduate from a Southern U you would have to combat that same neg perception.</p>
<p>LOL...about parts of NJ below Mason Dixon..I hope that its Route 195 and not Route 80 that you are referring to.</p>
<p>Eh, even I didn't apply to W&L. It's the stereotypical Southern college, although most others aren't. </p>
<p>I like to laugh (in a good-natured way) at the people who constantly exclaim at how diverse Duke is. You can tell who went to private schools up North. :rolleyes: </p>
<p>I think the public perception comes from
a) lack of knowledge about Southern schools
b) unwillingness to accept that Southern colleges are as good as many of their Northeastern counterparts</p>
<p>haha i think techincally all of cape may is below the line...damn southerners</p>
<p>Slipper...on your comment
"Its like when there is a school that is 33% minority - yet at some parties there isn't one minority to be found - and the white kids could care less. they aren't actively racist, but are unintentionally that way."</p>
<p>I couldn't agree any more. Thats exactly how it is at UVa lol. And honestly - I really don't care. Maybe thats a bad thing...but whatever, to me a person isn't diverse because of the color of their skin.</p>
<p>I didn't apply to Washington and Lee because diversity is important to me. I believe that with their different backgrounds, people also bring diversity of thought. In my opinion, both forms of diversity are important. Also from what i've seen the average student there is rather conservative.
I like my liberal arts colleges as exactly that, liberal. This is probably the reason why I will quite possibly be at wesleyan this fall :-)</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <blockquote> <p>I couldn't agree any more. Thats exactly how it is at UVa lol. And honestly - I really don't care. Maybe thats a bad thing...but whatever, to me a person isn't diverse because of the color of their skin.</p> </blockquote> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>But the point is that if they WERE different those people wouldn't like them because they are looking to hang out with cookie cutter versions of themselves. They think a minority guy is "cool," when he acts like them, but when not they ignore them. I've lived with all kinds of people, and could care less about skin color: but my friends are black, white, hispanic, Indian, girls, guys; i.e. all over the place. The reason I have such a diverse group of friends is because I found individual people I like: rather than taking physical appearance at face value. Anyway I think this sort of "self-segregation" happens more at Southern schools more than most northern ones.</p>
<p>So I take it that when someone uses "southern" as a derogatory term, it is used to imply racism and/or a lack of diversity. </p>
<p>So, my new question is, do you think that southern schools actually have more students who are racist (knowingly or not) or is this simply a misconception and stereotype carried over from previous eras?</p>
<p>Also, at schools with increasingly geographically diverse student bodies (50%+ from outside the South), why do people still think that a sentiment of segregation still poses a significant problem (since the majority of the student body hails from purportedly more accepting regions of the country)?</p>
<p>
[quote]
I didn't apply to Washington and Lee because diversity is important to me. I believe that with their different backgrounds, people also bring diversity of thought. In my opinion, both forms of diversity are important. Also from what i've seen the average student there is rather conservative.
I like my liberal arts colleges as exactly that, liberal. This is probably the reason why I will quite possibly be at wesleyan this fall :-)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Washington and Lee has an approximately 60:40 ratio of conservatives to liberals. (two of the three students that interviewed me were libs) </p>
<p>Wesleyan tilts at least 80:20 the opposite direction. </p>
<p>Now tell me, which one of these options provides the greatest diversity of opinion?</p>
<p>"Now tell me, which one of these options provides the greatest diversity of opinion?"</p>
<p>Mosts Liberals don't want diversity of thought. They advocate this, but very few actually want this. </p>
<p>Most posters are like poster ridethecliche above....
"I like my liberal arts colleges as exactly that, liberal. This is probably the reason why I will quite possibly be at wesleyan this fall :-)"</p>
<p>This poster sums up the typical liberal. They do not want a 50/50 student body. I've seen enough pies thrown at Ann Coulter to realize liberals don't want diversity of opinion.</p>
<p>Haha, that's the best BS i've ever heard. Be proud of yourself sir/ma'am.
I'm indian, i was born and raised in a strict asian society which is very different from the liberals that you speak of. Diversity in people and in thought are very important to me, and I can say from personal opinion that the people i know who claim to be republican's are the first to take offense to anything said against their beliefs. I'm open to all views as long as someone is willing to explain their point instead of saying that "you're stupid for believing otherwise". Belittling me will cause no gain to you, i refuse to let it come to that :-)</p>
<p>I didn't mean to single-you out but its a trend I see far too often on these boards. Theres a running joke on CC boards about Bob Jones University. Personally, I completely disagree with everything about the schools ideology. But I think people should respect those who choose this lifestyle choice as these far-left posters who bash the school may be the same people advocating gay marriage (another lifestyle choice). It seems very hypocritical to me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
but parts of new jersey are below the mason dixon line and that doesn't count.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That was a joke, right?</p>
<p>
[quote]
This poster sums up the typical liberal. They do not want a 50/50 student body. I've seen enough pies thrown at Ann Coulter to realize liberals don't want diversity of opinion.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah and conservatives do, right? Poor, oppressed conservative white Christian men, discriminated against throughout the centuries. If you listen to these people, they've been in a constant state of oppression since Diocletian. You know what a conservative's idea of "diversity of opinion" is? Illegalization of every kind of religious belief and non-belief other than Christianity, revocation of women's and minorties' rights, establishment of a world wide theocracy where if you're not a Christian you either enslaved or stoned to death. Lest you claim I am making this up:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm</a>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Reconstructionism%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Reconstructionism</a>
<a href="http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,70619-0.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,70619-0.html</a>
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-christians10apr10,0,6596503.story%5B/url%5D">http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-christians10apr10,0,6596503.story</a></p>
<p>Just a few sites...you get the idea.</p>
<p>The only reason conservatives have this debate is they aren't happy that this particular battle they are engaged in (the hearts and minds of colleges) they are losing. So most college students don't want to listen to your rhetoric, boo hoo (this is, of course, if you assume that this is a legitimate issue and hasn't been exaggerated by conservatives, like so much else has). I'm curious...if it was the other way around, conservatives ruled the roost at universities and were able to prevent liberal professors from getting jobs or suppress the ones that did have posts, would we hear so many conservatives about the importance of a "diversity of opinion?" My guess is, no. And for the record, I'm all for diversity of opinion. I think most college students, especially the liberal ones, are. Yeah the pie throwing thing is immature. But honestly listening to the poison spewed out by an Ann Coulter or a David Horowitz is pretty sickening sometimes.</p>
<p>By the way, how does "bashing" Bob Jones University indicate that the people doing the bashing are intolerant of a diversity of ideas? People that criticize an organization they don't like are in fact exercising their right to a "diversity of ideas." How does bashing Bob Jones or Pensacola Christian College or anything else of that ilk imply a desire to shut it down, ban it, get rid of it, or anything else. There is no logic in what you said. Wow there's a running joke on an Internet forum. Real intolerant.</p>
<p>Trying to get back to the original question...</p>
<p>warblersrule86, you keep referencing the "southern stereotype." Judging from the rest of your posts, do you consider this stereotype to consist entirely of a lack of diversity and high participation in greek life?</p>
<p>Also, I had never thought of the political split on campuses. It does seem that "southern" schools are more representative politically of the country as a whole than northern schools, thus bringing together a more politically balanced set of perspectives, along with which presumably comes more diversity in terms of ideas.</p>
<p>Well, keep in mind that I'm a Southerner, so I'm not exactly sure what the stereotype is. :p </p>
<p>From questions I've seen on the Duke board, most people tend to associate Southern schools as WASPy, conservative, frats, racist, Baptist, etc. (Possibly redneck too, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.) Pretty much the opposite of most of the Southern colleges. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Rice doesn't even have fraternities!</p>
<p>Either does BJU!</p>
<p>I don't buy the whole 50:50 split notion. The word "conservative" as it is used on college campuses is just a euphemism for <em>apathetic</em>; a description for people who basically don't understand why liberals are always bringing up unpleasant topics like poverty, starvation and global warming and generally killing everyone's buzz. This is why you rarely see conservatives -- even at nominally conservative schools like W&L and Duke -- demonstrating in favor of the war in Irag or for fetal rights, or for much of anything. By and large, these people are not there for the high level of political debate. Ironically, to find that level of political engagement -- conservative or liberal -- you generally have to go to a very liberal college (e.g., Dartmouth, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and yes, --even Wesleyan.)</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Yeah the pie throwing thing is immature. But honestly listening to the poison spewed out by an Ann Coulter or a David Horowitz is pretty sickening sometimes.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Or Michael Moore...or that Colorado Prof. who called the 9/11 vitctims "little eichmans"; people like that are just as deserving of pies in the face as Ann Coulter.</p>
<p>Liberal professors are the masters of intolerance. My sister (who goes to a largely liberal college) has told me that it is the rule rather than the exception for liberal teachers (such as Women's Studies) teachers to fail students for disagreeing with the professor's opinions. She writes liberal papers on issues that she doesn't believe in, and gets A's. Those who have the guts to stand up to the intolerance of those liberal teachers get much less.</p>