Tufts has been recognized as a school notorious for its liberal atmosphere in the past, but some events during this academic year have propelled the University into the national spotlight. Earlier this week, Tufts even won a "Polly" award, given by the conservative Collegiate Network "to highlight the noxious tendencies of radical faculty and students at the nation's colleges."
Despite the negative press from conservative media, however, a recent Tufts Daily poll showed that the majority of students identify with the left. Moreover, though only a small number of students are extremely vocal, most consider Tufts a considerably political campus.
Sixty-three percent of the 92 students polled said Tufts is "somewhat political" and 17 percent said "very political." In contrast, 13 percent found it "average" and five percent "not at all."
About half (51 percent) of Tufts students considered themselves either liberal or left-of center, according to the poll. Sixteen percent called themselves moderate, while another 14 percent were not sure. Ten percent identified themselves as either conservative or right-of-center.
Sophomore Dave Geisler said that the political atmosphere on campus was synonymous with what he expected out of a college experience. "We're a college campus. There are always going to be some people that complaining. There are always some [liberals and some conservatives]," Geisler said.
Other students said that Tufts' political climate is typical for local colleges. "We're a northeast, liberal campus," sophomore Senator Shaunik Panse said. "That's no secret."
Sophomore Pritesh Gandhi, who resigned from the Senate last month, said that while he thinks Tufts students take liberal stances on and are involved in national issues, many, including senators, are conservative and apathetic toward campus issues. "Whereas we're a liberal campus the student government is incredibly conservative. They are slow and stagnant," Gandhi said.
Though lackluster in support of campus politics the poll revealed 18 percent of students said they always participate in Massachusetts's elections, and 45 percent in their home state's elections.
Gandhi's assertions are in line with the poll- 17 percent said that they always vote in campus elections, while 58 percent always vote in national elections.
"I think campus politics are a joke," Gandhi said. "Student government members here don't commit themselves to their causes. They should be more actively involved."
Some students said they felt the ineffectiveness of student government comes from the lack of confidence from the students. "I don't think there's much support coming from the student body for student government," Panse said.
When asked about issues that have sparked debate on the hill this year, Tufts students leaned to the left. Fifty-nine percent thought the University should guarantee a "living wage" to Tufts employees, and 50 percent think the provision should be "very important" in University budgetary decisions.
Tufts raised the wages of University janitors last fall, contracted through the outside company OneSource. The movement to raise the wages, led by the worker's union and the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM), made itself visible on campus through demonstrations.
Yet, only 12 percent of students thought that protests and demonstrations play a "very important" role on campus. The majority of students take the middle-ground- 38 percent thought they are "somewhat important" and 37 percent found them "not very important." Thirteen percent find demonstrations "unimportant."
"I think these so called 'liberals' are a bunch of people with no real purpose in their lives," one junior respondent said. "[They] are just looking for something to complain about."
Saying that there are more avenues to students available to solve problems than they may believe, Panse said that he didn't see the justification for some protests that have occurred this year. "A lot of students feel needlessly disenfranchised by the student government," Panse said. "They're quick to assume their voice isn't heard."
When asked what limits should be placed on speech on campus, 46 percent said that speech should be completely free. Fifty-three percent said speech should be "kept within good taste" and only one response said speech should be "restricted."
Yet, when asked when free speech goes too far, answers varied. Many students simply cited the Source, while others gave more specific answers. "When it is slanderous and spiteful," one freshman said. "The 'Fat Carl' incident was not necessary," the respondent said, in reference to a cartoon in the Source, which depicted former Pan-African Alliance President Carl Jackson as the cartoon character Fat Albert.
"What the Source does is covered by the First Amendment," Dangremond said. "I didn't sign away my constitutional rights when I became a Tufts student."
Tufts ranked second out of five schools in the Polly Award contest for the incidents surrounding the theft of The Primary Source issues and the conflict at the cannon between Source editor Sam Dangremond and noted liberals Adam Carlis, Lou Esparza and Liz Monnin.
