From the Fletcher school to the high number of international relations majors, Tufts - like most American liberal arts colleges - has long been a locus of political thought and debate.
But when does classroom discussion cross the line and enter the realm of political bias?
Universities across the country have dealt with accusations of professors pushing their political views on students, especially as the national political climate becomes more polarized. One conservative organization even created a "Bill of Rights" for students, meant to encourage academic freedom by limiting how much a university can allow its professors to reveal their own political views.
The issue flared up again this September in an article from Northeastern University's student newspaper, which told the story of Amanda Eggers, a junior who said she had experienced political bias. In 2004, she entered her advisor's office to ask him for help while wearing Republican campaign buttons and pins. The advisor gave her packets of what Eggers referred to as "liberal" literature, began talking to her about her political views and tried to convince her to change parties.
But while it is no secret that the political climate at Tufts is predominantly liberal, leaders of campus political groups, professors and students interviewed agreed that classroom discrimination based on political views is not a major issue.
"Personally, with the professors I've had, I've never experienced a bias against myself and my views," said senior Daniel Hartman, the president of the Tufts Republicans.
Sophomore Shana Hurley, co-president of the Tufts Democrats, agreed.
"I don't think I've had a teacher here who has been overtly pushing an agenda," she said. "Tufts is a very accepting community on the whole."
According to Hartman, though, while professors have not discriminated against him for his conservative views, he has still noticed a pervading liberal bias on campus.
"Most of the professors [and] most of the student body lean to the left, and if you look at America it's a fifty-fifty split," he said. "My goal is to have the right have an equal voice with the left on campus."
Professor of Political Science Phillip Muñoz, who teaches courses on political philosophy and constitutional law, said political debate is a natural part of college classes. He said it's not uncommon for professors to express political views in the classroom, but that this does not always amount to persuasion or propaganda.
"In a political science department, controversial political issues certainly should be in the classroom; that's what we do," Muñoz said. "If you can't talk about controversial political issues on a college campus, you can't talk about them anywhere."
Muñoz said that he often takes the minority view in class and defends that in order to challenge his students.
"I think that's common," Muñoz said. "That's something many teachers do, so it would be a mistake to [confuse] a professor's own comments with the positions they might take in class."
Hurley agreed that the classroom is an inevitable focal point for political discussion: "It's impossible not to talk about political ramifications; especially in politically based classes ... Some things are inherently political," she said.
Sophomore Nick Burns felt similarly.
"Politics ... is definitely something that should be brought up, especially contentious issues, he said. "They're contentious because they're important."
Hurley said that while there are a lot of opportunities to be politically active at Tufts, the school's overall political climate is fairly moderate.
"The school is not deadlocked and partisan," she said.
But at a school where humanitarian causes tend to be popular, she said, people tend to learn from each other.
"I think a lot of political knowledge acquired in college occurs through osmosis and meeting new people," Hurley said.
Junior Jennifer David explained that her political knowledge has increased since she came to college.
"College students are in the group that is most aware of political events, I think," she said.
And experiencing politics among friends and in the classroom has shifted David's political thinking: "I think now I'm more willing to look at issues rather than just looking at things along party lines," she said.
