@NotVerySmart - Despite the presence of non-liberals as students on campus, the vast majority of employees at Stanford who gave to a political party gave to the liberal one. To submit an application essay that disagrees with the political beliefs of 75 percent of the people who will be making the application is foolish, IMHO. There is little reason to take the risk unless your entire CV for college applications is based on political EC’s.
As for administrators being primarily Rockefeller Republicans, I am scratching my head on that one.