How open-minded is UWMadison?

I know similar questions have been asked before on this and other social platforms, but they are all somewhat old threads.

The year is 2024, and it’s not hard to see the polarization of the US, and college campuses are divided into red and blue sections (or just a big chunk of blue because colleges tend to be liberal).

More students are liberal AND more professors are liberal or far left compared to the 90s or early 2000s.

We see the facts. The US has too much national debt. Grocery and housing prices are rising. Etc Etc. What we don’t agree is the cause of the facts. Basically, each side blames the other, and both sides think themselves are undoubtedly correct.

In fact, in 2022, a poll says More than 40% of Americans think civil war likely within a decade. I imagine the divide has gotten worse since then, especially with the 2024 election coming up.

Ok, with all that in mind, I’m wondering what’s the political climate like in UWMadison?

If I go out there and state I will vote for Trump, what’s gonna happen?

Will I get my dorm window smashed?

If in the required Ethnics class, I write an essay on how I oppose DEI, what’s gonna happen?

I don’t believe colleges should be an echo chamber, but with the majority (students and professors) being liberals and far lefts, it’s hard to not be one.

Obviously I won’t actually stick out like that, but I also don’t want to be bombarded by liberal values. I’m also not going to intentionally be involved in politics or take politics-related classes.

In fact, my major will be in STEM, so I hope I can avoid much political and emotional discussions.

But I do want to know what I’m getting into.

Wisconsin is still pretty red. You will see lots of Trump flags.

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If you oppose diversity, then you may want to reconsider whether you want to attend a state flagship that draws from the entire state and is likely more diverse than many high schools or neighborhoods (although the state of Wisconsin is less diverse than many other states). A more local or regional college with a more limited geographic area that it draws from may be less diverse, though still likely more diverse than many high schools or neighborhoods.

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You are entitled to your believes. We don’t have to support or like them, but they are your believes. Ironically, that’s the whole point of diversity.

Having said that, IF you are required to take a DEI class; fake it… It’s for your own good. Professors do not like their views challenged.

I think you will find out soon that exposure may change your world views or reaffirm that there may be truth in stereotypes. But the college experience is also a learning experience. You will be (I hope) learning more than you anticipate.

I believe at most schools, if you want to avoid politics - you’ll avoid politics.

I know two kids at Vandy. Vandy just had its issue and expelled 3 kids and suspended more. These kids don’t even know what’s going on.

My kid went to a supposedly conservative school. He says - it’s a nothing school - you never see politics discussed, etc. I’m sure it was there - but he was oblivious to it - so if that’s what you want to be, then that’s what you’ll be.

If you believe Niche surveys, they show it:

3% very conservative
10% conservative
21% moderate
41% liberal
15% very liberal
10% I don’t care

If you state you’re voting for Trump, the response is likely to be - great - you going to the game Saturday.

No one cares. It’s society.

But in general, many state flagships will have students with liberal points of view. And you’re going to college - to learn, to grow, so why would you care. Maybe you’ll meet great kids or profs and have substantive discussions and debates.

Society has become polarized - and it’s attitudes like this upfront that are causing it.

Guess what - you’re going to work for someone with an opposite political belief or maybe even marry someone with opposite beliefs (I did).

Time to be a human - and forget all the pre concerns - that likely won’t be impactful to your experience at all or might even enhance it. But it won’t be an issue unless you decide to make it an issue.

Good luck.

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There are political positions - about taxes on businesses of various sizes, roles of government, recreational drugs, place of religion in public life, etc. - that will be discussed and vigorously debated… or met with indifference.

However any postulate that some groups are inherently inferior or less worthy of rights due to skin color, hair type, religion, or gender, or that people as groups or individuals should either not exist or be eliminated, will not result in a shrug.

I get that, as a STEM student, you’re not especially interested in history or the US as a society. All universities require one such course because diversity is consubstantial with the US as a nation - just one, that you can choose from a very wide range, but it seems unfathomable to graduate college without something as basic to understanding the world around you.
As per the UWisconsin handbook “This core establishes a foundation for living a productive life, being a citizen of the world, appreciating aesthetic values, and engaging in lifelong learning in a continually changing world. These requirements provide for breadth across the humanities and arts, social studies, and natural sciences; competence in communication, critical thinking and analytical skills appropriate for a university-educated person; and investigation of the issues raised by living in a culturally diverse society.”
Ideas themselves will be debated - the goal is for you to acquire knowledge in a specific field, but also skills and strategies to increase your ability to communicate with the many people different from yourself that you’ll encounter; the existence of diversity in everything in the US is incontrovertible evidence but many kids may not have experienced it themselves, so the course you choose should give you tools to analyze what’s around you, understand viewpoints and experiences you may not have encountered, etc. Course descriptions will help you choose a course that’s suitable.
College isn’t just trade school and it’s not Sunday school either. It’s not HS with older kids. You’ll be exposed to a lot of new ideas, subjects, concepts, people, etc. That’s why it’s exhilarating and such a time for growth. :star_struck::tada:

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A prominent research university may have considerable diversity of international origins of many of the STEM faculty and graduate student TAs.

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Do you mean you oppose policies that promote DEI? Or do you oppose the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion?

This is an important distinction. If it’s the former, you can have a robust debate with your professors and classmates about your position and rationale. I don’t think you’ll be automatically shut down.

However, if it’s the latter, as ucbalumnus said a large public flagship is not the right place for you (and personally, I would strongly urge you to reexamine your beliefs).

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Contact the Young Republicans Club at UW-Madison. Ask about number of members, campus climate, and incidents.

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Wisconsin is a pretty red state but Madison and Milwaukee are the cities in the state that are more definitely more blue. Madison itself does not have a reputation for being the most diverse campus. Wisconsin itself isn’t the most diverse state and the student body is less diverse than the state as a whole. But next year a new direct admit program is starting and I’d assume the campus wlll start to look a bit more representative as the state as a whole.

So, to answer your question, I think UW Madison will lean liberal, as most college campuses do, but, I think you will not be the lone student with conservative beliefs.

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According to the US Census data, Wisconsin is almost 80% white (not hispanic) and 8%, Hispanic 7% black.

According to the CDS, UW is 60% white, over 10% Asian and a sizable hispanic population. It does seem the black population is smaller than the rest of the state.

But it seems to me, unless I’m missing something, a more diverse campus than the state overall. And it seems more diverse than many other flagships. And I think it’s a good thing - because that’s life - when you grow up, you’ll be working with so many people from so many cultures and belief systems.

U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Wisconsin

CDS_2023_2024.pdf | Powered by Box

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I never attended UW Madison, but lived in the Midwest where there are many students currently attending or recent graduates starting out. Like UofM, Madison has a reputation for being pretty “crunchy” and pretty left leaning.

I think you make a good observation given that on some college campuses there are more professors who identify as “communist” than Republican, and guest speakers who would be considered moderate anywhere but a college town are shouted down, or uninvited. The issue on college campuses isn’t that they lean left, per say, but that views outside the prevailing orthodoxy are not tolerated. On some campuses, free speech is dead.

If you haven’t already, you may want to look at FIRE’s ranking of colleges for protection of free speech (www.thefire.org). FIRE rates UW Madison as “average” and ranked the school 60/248 of colleges surveyed. Harvard, infamously, ranked 248/248 and was rated “abysmal”. I am happy to say that one of the schools to which my younger son plans to apply, Michigan Tech, is rated 1/248 with a “good” rating. I would also recommend simply doing internet searches on schools that interest you, to see if they made the news because of intolerance - think Palestinian protesters intimidating Jewish students (Harvard, Rutgers, etc.), students physically attacking speakers (Middlebury), or students even taking over a campus (Evergreen State). Just as important, what was the administration response to these acts of intolerance?

There will be less left leaning indoctrination in a STEM major than the humanities. That does not mean that the activists don’t have you in their sights; at some schools “studies” departments are lobbying for STEM majors to be required to take classes in gender, African American, Latino, women’s, etc. studies to graduate (I think with the decline of students pursuing “studies” degrees because of poor employment prospects, there is a bit of self preservation at play in these departments). After visiting schools out west, a strong contender on my son’s list of forestry programs was dropped because the first slide in their presentation focused on “guiding principles” of DEI and “social justice”. In contrast, another program moved up the list because they focused on field work, academic rigor, and employment opportunities.

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You’re right. I was thinking more of the larger cities of Wisconsin. Wisconsin as a whole is pretty rural and the rural areas are pretty white.

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Personal experience: I’m economically center-right and socially fairly centrist, so a bit right of most UW students on both axes. I was in constant contact with people far more vocal and liberal than I. I had no problem debating with them, and we almost always kept things respectful.

So probably, unless you walk around campus waving a Trump sign in everyone’s face or being otherwise disruptive/loud/a handful, you’ll be fine.

But straight-up bigotry (judging according to demographic traits, not actions or words…) isn’t welcome there.

Another thing to consider is, you’ll probably be too busy with your studies, having fun, going to games, etc., to spend a whole lot of your time starting or engaging in arguments.

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You’ll have people of all stripes at every college campus, particularly large ones, so don’t let that necessarily be a deciding factor. U Wisconsin isn’t oberlin.

Be respectful, but also be aware when a situation gets heated and evolves to the point of danger. Know when to walk away, especially when outnumbered by angry people driven by emotion.

Disagree with above poster about not waving a trump flag (or whatever flag). Certain groups rely on self censorship of opposing views. Wave whatever flag you want, think what you want, speak what you want. This is supposed to be college where the free exchange of ideas occur, whether those ideas are right or wrong to some people.

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Agree - but also remember, most the people on campus won’t be involved one way or another.

They’re in school for academics, social, games, etc.

And this is life - you never know who you work for, work with, etc. They are co workers, bosses and everyone has beliefs, many will have different ethnicities - and that’s society - and guess what, people all work together.

The kids that seem to want to separate early - because we’ve seen other posts like this - are going to have a long and difficult life (IMHO).

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Take note OP! This is good advice! Have fun at school! Most people are pretty chill.

I enjoy using whimsical hyperbole.

For any assignment, read the room and read the rubric is always my advice.

If you feel your opinion is opposite of the room majority, be sure to openly respect differences in opinions and be clear it is not your intent to offend others. Disagreeing with an assignment may not excuse you from an assignment. Your choice to not do it but accept the consequences. Read the syllabus and the assignment grading rubric and follow to the letter. If you need references, your best options will always be peer reviewed research articles from the last 5 years found at your college library and not some online website or webpage.

I know plenty of hard core Young Republicans who attend UW Madison and feel totally safe.

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Yep. Again, this is college. You don’t have to regurgitate what a professor says, but when you disagree, be respectful and have a logical rebuttal.

I think most (gulp! I hope!) professors appreciate creative and novel thinking and ideas that may even give them pause.

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