What has happened to Wesleyan?

Colleges & Universities Wesleyan University
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<p>I define stereotyping as holding exaggerated beliefs tied to a category of people
We close down communication by pigeonholing someone with different ideas than ours, and then ignoring them.</p>

<p>Much of the recent discussion here has swirled around the question of whether Wesleyan stereotypes Republican students. Based on my many discussions with my son who is a sophomore and from my own observations on campus and reading of student online writing, I question this assertion. On the contrary, I maintain that Wesleyan promotes intellectual rigor, academic freedom and civic engagement, all of which make it very difficult to hold on to stereotypes for very long. Are there those on all sides of the political spectrum who stereotype? No doubt there could be, but no more so than at other similar campuses these days. </p>

<p>However, I reject stereotyping Wesleyan as a campus that is focused on the kind of political/intellectual bullying that some have accused it of doing. On the contrary, Wesleyan’s entire curriculum is rife with examples of classes that challenge this stereotype, and which in fact encourage students to question the very stereotypes they brought with them on day one of first year. </p>

<p>Witness the plethora of offerings in African-American Studies, Environmental Studies, Economics, History, Government, the College of Social Studies and the College of Letters and in the departments of Religion and Anthropology. A student can’t escape having his or her beliefs, including exaggerated ones, being challenged at Wesleyan. It’s the kind of environment that produces both conservative judges and liberal Governors, NFL football coaches and Oscar winners, some of the highest scores on GMAT among liberal arts colleges as well as joint M.D./Ph.D. candidates and young professionals who are committed to protecting the environment and working for a more egalitarian society. </p>

<p>You won’t be successful at Wesleyan holding on to rigid stereotypes, because the campus and the curriculum will challenge you constantly. What you will have, if you work hard, focus on learning something new and important and opening your mind to other viewpoints, is a critical mind that will be your most valuable personal asset as you age. That is Wesleyan’s brand and has been for at least the last 50 years. In my opinion, to characterize that as liberal bias is to fully misunderstand what is going on there.</p>

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<p>I wonder how many of the thousands of college professors who have gotten laid off or had their hours cutback because Univ. are avoiding Obamacare mandates would like their vote back???</p>

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<p>Morganhill, those are great talking points, but reality is far from it. My anecdotal experiences suggest the opposite. If you voice conservative beliefs on campus, whether social or economic, you will be inadvertently chastised by your peers as “backward” or “regressive.” Again, I’m a current student and sophomore. But the question is… Who’s doing the stereotyping? Me or other students?</p>

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<p>rebel11: That’s not really a viable scenario. Colleges can always make contractual agreements for their profs to pay for part or all of their health care. As a college professor I have seen this happen at many institutions. I haven’t seen any colleagues laid off as a result of the Health Care Initiative.</p>

<p>The establishment also included Democrats. The divide wasn’t nearly as wide. The Harvard geniuses that crafted our Vietnam policy worked for Kennedy.</p>

<p>I am a committed Democrat, but both parties shored up the establishment at one time, and really still do. Clinton pushed through NAFTA going against a progressive constituency.</p>

<p>As the discrepancy between the haves and have nots has grown in the US since the nineties and the Republican Party began pushing a social agenda to appeal to the have-nots that their fiscal policies wouldn’t appeal to, the party has changed.</p>

<p>Most young college students have learned to be respectful of differing views. However, it’s not true to think that a political agenda is not central in many classes that don’t involve “current affairs”. History, economics, and political science are areas in which political agendas shape discourse.</p>

<p>However, it’s not true that any school is hegemonic in its political agenda. There may be a progressive philosophy department and a more conservative economics department, and visa versa. And even within the departments there is dissent.</p>

<p>There are some strong progressive views held by a vocal contingent of Wes students, but there isn’t a party handshake that requires students to share these views. </p>

<p>A conservative student must decide for him/herself is he/she wants to be exposed to new ideas or to reify their ideas.</p>

<p>My S, who is very progressive, is close friends with a very conservative young man. They are in grad school together and have found common ground within their discipline and in other common interests. His friend is from KY where he went to school and is being exposed to the NY environment, which is quite strange to him.</p>

<p>However, both are happy in their friendship. I think this is common.</p>

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<p>Hey Mythmom, Hundreds of thousands of people are beginning to realise the hard truth that Ocare is decimating jobs(incl. Univ staffs) etc. The Santa Claus philosophy of Liberals(sorry I mean Progressive’s)is coming home to roost.On our way to 20 Trillion $ debt. Are u kiddin me???</p>

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<p>Hm. Why is there an apostrophe in progressives? Plurals don’t use apostrophes.</p>

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<p>WOW. Ignore the message and correct grammar.That’s special.</p>

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<p>@Radiances, from my perspective clearly you are stereotyping. You’re stereotyping “your peers”. Your class of 2015 came into Wesleyan with 815 students. My son is one of them. His “peers” do not chastise those with conservative opinions. But they will use facts and persuasion to debate counter points when issues come up. This is what democracy is all about. Go read John Meacham’s Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power and you will learn about the very heated controversies between those who wanted a republican form of government and those (mostly Federalists like Hamilton) who argued for a new monarchy aligned with England. I learned a lot from those debates at Wesleyan 40 years ago and my son (your peer in Class of 2015) does as well. He has civil but robust debates with his friends, classmates and teachers often. It’s what expands your awareness and opens you up to different paradigms. It is not a bad thing. In fact these “bull sessions” as we used to call them, would extend often into the wee hours of the morning on my dorm floor and I learned so much from them. </p>

<p>I am a leadership development expert. When I work with my clients, I distinguish between three types of power: Coercive (where one party has the capacity to force you to do something); Manipulative, where one party tries to trick you into believing or doing something you would not otherwise do if you had the facts; and Persuasive Power, where parties freely present their points of view using the facts as they know them and attempt to convince the other of their positions without coercion or manipulation. </p>

<p>You seem to bemoan the fact that other students do not agree with your opinions. Well, why should they if you are not up on your facts and do not attempt to persuade them otherwise. Hanging onto an ideological label such as “I am a conservative” or “I am a progressive” is not persuasive. It is simply retreating to the warm home of like-minded souls who wave their banners but do not attempt to persuade. Thinking dogmatically is not a good choice. You won’t learn much at Wesleyan if you do so. Argue with facts and listen to the facts from others. Wesleyan never promised you a bed of roses where people politely cover up their positions on important civic and world issues, and I am sure you must have known that when you applied. These kinds of debates help you to grow, even if they produce momentary discomfort. Shying away from them or bemoaning the fact that your opinions are in the minority will only stunt or stultify your intellectual development.</p>

<p>I hope you will take these ideas into consideration and move away from labeling others, as that does not promote your growth.</p>

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<p>@MythMom very clearly laid out a fact-based, persuasive argument that avoided stereotyping Rebe, and gave many concrete examples to support her position. She also avoided the trap of retreating to ideological banner waving. Excellent post, MythMom.</p>

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<p>No banner waving here. Just massive job losses & cutback in hours,on top of on our way to 20 trillion in debt.A High school economics class will teach you that’s not good.</p>

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<p>Morganhil, didn’t I already give an anecdotal example of condescension in an earlier post in regards to unemployment? Please do give me an example of how I am in fact the aggressor?</p>

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<p>What I laid out are my many anecdotal experiences of how I would lay out the facts, analyses, and conclusions, only to be shouted out of the room and chastised by my peers as “right-wing,” “regressive,” and “ignorant.” You, however, have not offered an examples of how I’m stereotyping beforehand. I only make my conclusions AFTER the fact, e.g. being chastised by my peers without any effort of intelligent conversation.</p>

<p>P.S. There’s nothing wrong with stereotyping. You can blame asymmetric information and the opportunity cost of obtaining such information as the cause.</p>

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<p>Justice Scalia also had his fair share of “being shouted out of the room” while he visited Wesleyan, this includes both faculty and student protests, along with food throwing and name calling.</p>

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<p>Morganhil, I also don’t think your son is a great source of whether or not there is such condescension on campus, considering he’s part of the majority. It’s like asking a white male in Mississippi whether or not racism exists… Try surveying 10 registered Republicans on campus and see what they think.</p>

<p>Do you even have a son? From your posts, it seems like you’re pretty involved on campus yourself, current sophomore or junior maybe?</p>

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<p>@Radiances, we are not talking about aggressors here. I have spent a good amount of time explaining my point of view and it’s not getting through to you at all. I’m not clear as to why you would have chosen to attend Wesleyan. It is a place where you will be challenged about your views and believe me, it hapens to virtually everyone who attends there, regardless of political viewpoint. Good luck to you as you continue your education at Wesleyan!</p>

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<p>So my son is part of the “majority”? As a person of color, he most assuredly is not. Again, stereotyping.</p>

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<p>@Radiances, to question whether or not I am the parent of a Wesleyan student is beyond the pale. But it helps make it easier for me to understand your thinking. I have posted several hundred times on CC, so that would have to be quite an elaborate fraud to maintain. You can believe whatever you like.</p>

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<p>By majority, I’m thinking politically, not racially.</p>

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<p>If an environment is making you unhappy, for whatever reason, there is the option of leaving.</p>

<p>I am sorry to all who are disappointed in their college experiences.</p>

<p>I had to leave home after 11th grade and missed the fancy school because our pedestrian state u was the only place that would accept me that August without the HS diploma. Still, I garnered an Ivy grad school acceptance and earned a PhD.</p>

<p>The environment wasn’t perfect, but there was much to recommend it.</p>

<p>I don’t know which views have been shouted at, but there are some that deserve to be. For example, I don’t think supporters of the Dred Scott decision should have been respected in 1856. Ideas that deprive others of their freedom or rights are reprehensible.</p>

<p>As for the debt and other economic arguments, I think the fact that Clinton left a surplus and the debt grew after that presents another possible point of view that the right’s analysis, but I don’t think it belongs on a Wesleyan board.</p>

<p>Wesleyan is a very invigorating environment. Right for some but not all.</p>

<p>I wonder how much civility certain beliefs receive at Brigham Young?</p>

<p>It’s really quite a shame that our society is so polarized.</p>

<p>One statistic that gets to me is that blue states give money to red states while red states vote against taxes. It makes little sense to me, but the human race doesn’t seem to be essential rational.</p>

<p>There’s a lot of anger here, and that probably doesn’t help create serenity or a sense of satisfaction.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some left-wing pressure at Wes; you’ll certainly find tons of right-wing pressure at BYU (leave the Che Guevara t-shirt at home).</p>

<p>My impression is that both sides are present at Wes, though the left certainly has the upper hand. If you have the guts to continue to stand up if/when you get shouted down, you’ll grow in your convictions and others may learn a thing or two also. You might also have to reconsider your own beliefs; as has been pointed out, some beliefs deserve to be shouted down.</p>

<p>I oppose vehemently the dishonor, dishonesty, and tin-foil-hat extremism that, unfortunately, so characterizes today’s American right-wing (<a href=“http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/rulings/pants-fire/[/url]”>http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/rulings/pants-fire/&lt;/a&gt;), but as long as that’s not a part of the way you do business, you’ll be making a real contribution by bucking the system at Wesleyan.</p>

<p>Personally, I hope all honorable conservatives stick it out at Wes; the university, and every student in it, is much be better off because of their presence and perspective.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>