Sally_Rubenstone

Please help College Confidential with a research project. We are seeking the names of colleges and universities that you would call "LIBERAL" --those that would appeal to applicants who claim they want a school with a "liberal" campus climate.

We realize that this term can be broadly defined, so we want you to use your own definition and explain your choice (see #2, below).

Please tell us:

1) College Name

2) Your reason(s) for calling it "Liberal"

3) Your source of information (first-hand experience as a student or parent? friend of current student or alum? etc.)

If you are familiar with colleges that have already been mentioned on this thread by CC members, feel free to agree--or disagree.

#1travlr

Hampshire College: Anything goes in terms of courses of study as well as behavior. Two cousins attended Hampshire; one had a high degree of self-motivation and got her undergraduate degree there. The other left Hampshire because the lack of formal structure led him to devote more time to "leisure pursuits" than academics. We have visited as well and even the physical campus suggests and promotes "liberalism."

Macalester College: Politically and socially liberal to the extent that the student body exhibits a kind of "fight the power" mentality. Daughter attended there and we visited her numerous times before she transferred. While she is both politically and socially liberal herself, she is not either of those things to the exclusion of dialogue with and respect for a diversity of persons and perspectives. Macalester is an inclusive community...except, perhaps, when one's interests and preferences are more mainstream.

BillyB1918

Wesleyan University. Read "The Gatekeepers" by Jacques Steinberg. This is only the most sensational memory from the book, but you get the point: Any college with a student organization known as the "C**t Club" that provides sexual aids to students would classify as liberal.

mini

American University. AU's liberalism stems from its internationalism. More than 50% of the student body either majors or minors in the School of International Service, the largest such program in the country, and there are far more international service, school of communications, and school of public affairs students than in the liberal arts. There are more International Service students at AU than the entire student population at all but a few LACs. It has among the highest percentages of students going abroad, and the highest percentage in the country of students who join the Peace Corps. The graduate school of international service is also the largest in the counttry, with a very liberal, socially engaged faculty. It doesn't hurt that the vast majority of students come from the northeast. Princeton Review has ranked them as having the most politically engaged student body in the United States.

Parent.

AnagramPanda

Oberlin and Grinnell, for similar reasons- historically, they have had a liberal admissions policy, being among the first colleges to admit women and minorities. This dedication to diversity remains strong in both colleges today.

pierre0913

Princeton Review 2010 Most Liberal Colleges:

Warren Wilson College
Hampshire College
New College Of Florida
Bennington College
Prescott College
Bard College
Sarah Lawrence College
Marlboro College
Reed College
Occidental College
Pitzer College
The Evergreen State College
Macalester College
Wesleyan University
Lewis & Clark College
Eugene Lang College - The New School For Liberal Arts
Vassar College
Mills College
Swarthmore College
Beloit College

Gwen Fairfax

Smith didn't make the top 20 most liberal colleges?? Wow, those places must be wa-a-ay liberal!

I stumbled on something called 'A Guide to Choosing the Right College" or some such-- it's a guide for right-wing folks! But of course it can work in reverse-- see who they do and don't recommend, and why.

d'smom

Gwen,

That is interesting. Did they compile any kind of list that they tell conservatives to stay a away from?

My list would be:
Oberlin
Macalester
Grinnell
Swarthmore
Bard
Reed
Wesleyan
Hampshire
Sarah Lawrence
Oxy
Vassar
Evergreen
Whitman
L&C
Pitzer

thebigcheese121

are there any "liberal" colleges and universities in texas??

I'm not american, so whenever anybody says Texas! i think of chuck norris hunting members of the KKK and that scares me coz i'm applying to places like oberlin and reed but am looking for similar(maybe a little less liberal) colleges in texas.

Any suggestions???

d'smom

Perhaps University of North Texas.

Gwen Fairfax

d's mom, I don't know if they compiled a list but they had a "red light, yellow light, or green light" section for each school that gave reasons conservatives might not like the schools-- so they provided info that would be helpful to those who had political concerns of any kind.

d'smom

Gwen, now that I think about it, I seem to recall that I scanned through that book at Barnes and Noble. I thought it was neat that they had the different color coding. It was definitely a right wing book. I agree with you, as a book like that can also be used in the reverse. =)

johnwesley

Not really. In fact, included with each profile (which is well-researched and entertaining) is a short list of courses that ISI suggests could pass their litmus test if a motivated conservative (horror of horrors) absolutely had to attend one them. For example, at Wesleyan they suggested Classical Civilization 202: Greek Drama; College of Letters 359, Philosophical Classics I: Ancient Western Philosophy; Religion 212, The New Testament: An Introduction; Religion 316, Studies in Medeival Philosophy; Government 338, Introduction to Modern European Political Philosophy; English 205, Shakespeare; History 235, Amercian Intellectual History, 1600-1865; Philosophy 276, From Hegel to Nietzsche.

You get the idea.

Cuse0507

UNC-Chapel Hill is almost disgustingly Liberal. Conservative speakers have been met with violence and death threats recently (see the Tom Tancredo incident), Conservative organizations have been targeted by groups like YDs and SDS, and Conservative publications have been stolen repeatedly to prevent students from reading them. I've seen all of this firsthand, as a student at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Salvorix

Bates College (from first hand experience). The campus is disproportionately liberal in terms of organizations, speakers, and the attitudes of professors.