Political Ideology in the classroom and on the hill

Although Tufts is commonly called a liberal university, professors and students say that students are moderate and not as active in politics as classes in the 70s, or even 90s.

"The average political ideology is quite moderate, and what I would call risk-averse. I think most students are afraid to be seen as being outside the middle-of-the-road on either side," assistant political science professor Gary McKissick agreed, "This campus has a reputation for being a very liberal one, but I see more of a mushy centrism."

"I would say that students at Tufts are generally left-leaning, but less activist and more moderate than the undergraduates of the 1970s, 1980s and even 1990s," Kerry Chase, a political science professor, said.

Even if the campus is generally moderate, a consensus on campus does not necessarily mean that there is much of political conversation or expression.

"I think there's usually a consensus, but a lot of people tend to keep their political ideas to themselves" sophomore and political science minor Abby Eastbrook said. "Many people don't consider themselves political."

The atmosphere at Tufts may reflect a trend noticed in other universities. "I often hear senior faculty members at other institutions lament that students today are apolitical and inactive compared to students in the 1970s, and that trend probably holds across the country," Chase said.

There is a general feeling that political activism of university students has decreased throughout the country since the days when protest was an integral part of campus life.

Students at Johns Hopkins University believe that politics don't take as central a role in students' lives as in did in the past.

"As in most colleges, the prevailing political affiliation here is apathy... politics and political opinion are viewed as remote and irrelevant," said Matt Bassett, a sophomore at John Hopkins.

Political discussions in the classroom can be a sensitive issue, as professors strive to present multiple sides of the issue and refrain from alienating students with alternative points of view.

"Personally, I do not feel it is my role to discuss my own political opinions," Chase said. "Rather, it is important to provide balance in the classroom so that students can make their own decisions."

Despite the effort to include a wide variety of political opinions, some students feel a professor's ideological slant can impact the classroom environment. "In the classes I have taken, the professors seem genuinely interested in hearing an array of political views," sophomore and political science major William Dunn said. "What they do not realize is that their constant jabs at Republican candidates and conservative pundits make their classes less sensitive to the large scope of political opinions represented at Tufts."

For some students at other universities political ideology in the classroom can have a huge impact on their college experience. It can even steer them away from certain academic areas.

Michael Ellis, a sophomore at Dartmouth College, said that he makes it a point to take classes where ideological arguments are unlikely to occur, and stays away from the Government department.

"Although most Dartmouth professors tend to stay away from political discussions, more extreme professors on campus let their ideology seep into their discussions to create a leftist slant," Ellis said, calling the atmosphere in such classes "hostile to opposing points of view."

Some students feel political discussion has the potential to be a waste of class time, questioning whether time could be better spent on course material. "If [a student] started on a political tirade in the middle of class, I'd be pretty pissed," said another Dartmouth sophomore, Chris Leach. "Tuition is too high to waste class time on that."

Some feel the value of political discussion outweighs some of these possible negatives. "Political discussion in class is vital," McKissick said. "I'm a political scientist. I think politics touches everything. That's just my bias, if you will. So to think we could move conversations about politics off the agenda, so to speak, runs against everything I believe in. This stuff matters, and it's important for students to start recognizing how the issues of the day affect their lives."

Even if Tufts students, in general, agree on most issues, there is still room for and acceptance of debate, which is something that does not occur on many campuses. "Most people feel free to express their political opinions," Eastbrook said.

At schools with more homogenous populations, the absence of diversity dispels any need for discussion, according to some students at those schools.

Jen Austin, a sophomore at Brigham Young University, said, "Since nearly all of the students on campus share the same religious beliefs we agree on most controversial issues because of the shared background that we have, so there isn't much to debate."

At Tufts, most agreed, there is enough diversity of experience and opinion to make political discussion viable.

"Political views have moderated in the last 20 years, so there probably isn't as much political argument as in the past," Chase said. "But I don't think it is so homogenous as to stifle political discourse."