This is referring to invited speakers by campus organizations, faculty invites or departmental invites. In the past, at some other unis, a campus org might invite a controversial speaker which would spark protests and possibly cancellation. Yale is coming out strongly to say that it stands with any speaker who is invited. As to whom the uni or its departments or faculty choose to invite – that’s impossible to determine or predict. You’re imparting something sinister here – condemning them for future actions.
Speculation again. If there were any whiff of this, the tenured Yale faculty would be up in arms. And no one can imagine them being muzzled.
@T26E4 , I’m saying that I’ll believe him when I see evidence that non-liberal views are welcomed in practice and conservative leaning faculty are hired and take senior positions. For now conservatives are more of a curiosity there.
We were not curiosities when I attended in the late 80s. I doubt the faculty were less liberal then than now. Come senior year when 40% of grads are sending in resumes to financial companies’ recruiters, if there was closeted conservatives, they’re pretty evident in their suits going to the various hotels for interviews.
I suspect there won’t be a verifiable standard to meet your threshold TO4S. I’m very satisfied, both from my own time there – and witnessing it in the years since.
As a current Yalie, I can say that Yale is no less conservative nor more liberal than other top colleges across the country (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc.) It draws its students from pretty much the same pool of applicants as nearly any other peer university, and I fail to see how the political climate on campus is markedly different.
The Yale Daily News’ article needs some clarification as well. A distinction needs to be made between being a conservative and being a outspoken Trump supporter. Being a conservative/libertarian here will not make you part of the majority, but your views will still be considered, respected and listened to if conveyed in a thoughtful manner. There are lots of conservative events on campus, and a lot of conservative alumni in prominent positions (the 2 bushes, William F Buckley Jr, etc.)
What a lot of Yalies do have an issue with is someone being an outspoken Trump supporter, primarily because it has connotations of being racist, misogynist, Islamophobic, etc. Even then, your views won’t be muzzled, they will merely be rigorously challenged, ignored or met with an ‘eye-roll’ reaction. For instance, there was news recently of Milo Yiannopoulos (editor of Breitbart news) being invited to speak. Most people I knew merely planned to ignore the event, debate the speaker, or attend another opposing talk outside the planned event.
Ultimately, I think far too much noise has been made about this whole issue. An overwhelmingly vast majority of college life and academic research, whether it’s doing p-sets, conducting research in labs, writing plays, curating museum exhibits, or having philosophical discussions, is barely ever politically contentious and even more rarely infringes upon the ‘grey area’ of free speech. This is a non-issue and one that you should barely consider in your college search.
You make the point. The fact you don’t see it makes it even worse.
@T26E4, a whole lot of those grads marching off to Wall Street remain very liberal. The Ds have out raised the Rs on Wall Street by large amounts for a very long time.
I don’t know why any parent would want their kid to Yale these days…Yale is in a trap Yale devised. Yale administration is really saying you can say anything you want as long as we agree with what you are saying. Sorta ironic to focus on “light and truth” with the Montague case staring them in the face in a couple months. Frankly I don’t think free speech is a “non-issue”(post #24) …quite the contrary I think it IS the issue.
There is more to this than just the free speech rights of the students, but also the concept of the faculty’s academic freedom and the existence (or more likely absence) of viewpoint diversity among the faculty, especially in the social sciences. That is what the Heterodox Academy is all about. http://heterodoxacademy.org/problems/. The absence of viewpoint diversity can impact, sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly, many aspects of academic life including what research is approved, what papers are published, what plays will be permitted to be performed (e.g., Mt. Holyoke canceling the Vagina Monologues), etc.
I’m not singling out Yale for particular criticism, but I’m pushing back against this notion that free speech is a non-issue. And it does seem that whenever someone on CC asks if conservative views are tolerated/respected on various campuses, the answer is a always: sure, in a vague theoretical way, but definitely not if you cross the many boundaries set by the majority about what speech Is too offensive.
Agree and while Yale shouldn’t be singled out, I do find it ironic that our “supposed” elite institutions seem to be the ones grappling most with the concept of diversity of opinions, individual rights etc. I find it ironic that at my advanced age explaining constitutional rights to young people results in being labeled ‘conservative’…a label I have never, ever personally used in my life so far.
@reuynshard
Thank you for your thoughtful insight! It’s difficult for folks here to actually listen to those who are on the ground with first hand experience…easier to wag their finger and feed the theory that the conservative mindset is under attack.
No level of engagement or evidence will convince them otherwise. In some sense it’s the same level of close-minded thinking they falsely attribute to certain college campuses
Uh, @tonymom my post #21 links to a survey of Yale students conducted by the Yale Daily News, In what way is that survey not “evidence” and not from those “on the ground with first hand experience”? It sounds like maybe you are the one who cannot be convinced by evidence. Note that in the survey 75% of the respondents said that Yale does not welcome conservative opinions, and that two-thirds of students who classify themselves as liberal or very liberal agreed that Yale does not welcome conservatives. Maybe you should look at that survey before accusing those who disagree with you of “close-minded thinking.”
If I’ve read the article correctly only 37.58% of undergraduates were surveyed for their opinion. Sorry, but I will take first hand impressions any day. And so far I haven’t heard that students are fearful in expressing their thoughts or opinions. Perhaps if some conservative students are feeling intimidated to speak their mind, it may have more to do with certain negative impressions of a leading presidential candidate. In that sense it would be unfortunate for a student who has conservative values to be lumped together with…THAT…that’s just unfair.
@tonymom, ‘only 37.58%’ of undergraduates is a gigantic sample size. National political polls sample 0.0001% of the electorate. @reuynshard says 'As a current Yalie, I can say that Yale is no less conservative nor more liberal than other top colleges across the country (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc.) ’ - that is exactly the problem that many posters complain about. \
@tonymom You say you “haven’t heard that students are fearful in expressing their thoughts or opinions.” Did you read the reports in the survey? What you really seem to mean is that your freshman hasn’t reported it to you, so it must not be happening. You are asking us to weigh your freshman son’s impression against that of the 2,054 respondents in the Yale student survey. I have a sophomore kid at a top LAC. She would probably say that she has never herself seen instances of racial discrimination on campus; but that doesn’t mean that she would discount the reports from students of color that they experience discrimination and marginalization. Why is it different with conservative students?
@momofthreeboys I wouldn’t hesitate one second to send my kids there. The perception (even conveyed by that survey) of liberal/progressive activists and profs squashing any dissent is overblown IMHO. It makes for great Breitbart click bait. The “screaming woman” video from last halloween is all the evidence people need of liberal elites coddling run amok SJWs. In my experience, it’s simply not that exciting. Outsiders fail to grasp the genuine humility, gratitude and mutual respect that exists amongst most of the student body. In my circle of middle to right of middle friends, we thrived – we weren’t put upon or constricted. What Pres. Salovey said is what I would have expected – in a good way.
So let me get this straight…the same folks who were deriding the SJW as “snowflakes” last fall and telling them to “grow up”, get a thicker skin and deal with differing opinions now feel some affinity for protecting this supposed minority of fearful conservative students who can’t handle the pushback or debate others who disagree with their opinions?
PLEASE ;-/
I think I should start claiming the Yale survey was RIGGED!!!
And my Yalie is far more conservative than his parents but difference is he was raised to understand that if you can’t intelligently defend your position perhaps it wasn’t worthwhile in the first place.
