KIDS RESILIENT ENOUGH TO HANDLE LIBERAL COLLEGES
Colorado Springs Gazette, 10-5-06
Youth is wasted on the young. So, for that matter, is
college.
That’s how I felt after visiting my son for Freshman
Parents’ Weekend. Strolling among the ivy-covered buildings, admiring the
fire-and-gold brushstrokes across the foliage that herald the beginning of a
All the parents I spoke with heard the siren song of the
past: Oh, to be young again, to draw back the curtain of time. How
sweet it would be to lose ourselves in the world of ideas, the pursuit of
knowledge, and the sea of young, idealistic faces so free of the cares of
adulthood.
Of course, time tends to romanticize these things. We
forget the stress-ridden days before a big exam, the panic-stricken
all-nighters trying to get an assignment done, and the maddening frustrations
of the opposite sex. Except, of course, for your roommate, who never
seemed to have a problem in that area. Which didn’t help your self-esteem
one bit.
My son goes to one of those eastern schools that drive
conservatives crazy. They complain about their disproportionate influence
on the media and they complain about non-traditional sexual mores. But mostly,
they complain about the overwhelming dominance of liberal views on
campus. Based on my extremely thorough 2-day visit, I can say with
complete confidence that conservatives are 100% correct.
When was the last time you saw posters blasting Hilary
Clinton as too right-wing? The Green Party thinks so, and I saw far more
announcements for their candidate on campus than anybody else. Some media
studies students were planning an anti-Bush media event with posters that were
everywhere, and there were a couple of singers coming to campus to support
“political mobilization”. It’s pretty safe to say they weren’t stumping
for the Republican Party.
I looked really hard for evidence of conservative or
libertarian views among the students. I couldn’t find a single poster or
announcement that was even close. I got excited when I saw “The
Economist” on a desk, until I realized it was my son’s. That doesn’t
count.
I finally found an editorial in a student paper calling for
more support for conservative ideas. Written by a senior with decidedly
non-liberal views, he made his case with quotes from around campus. I
didn’t bring the column home, but here’s what I remember from it:
“My roommate describes himself as a moderate, just so he’ll
have friends.”
“[Our school] tends to attract a lot of liberal
students. I don’t have a problem with that.”
“Conservatives definitely do not have outlets for their
views on campus. That’s something they will have to work out for
themselves. All eight of them.”
The question of political balance came up from a parent
during a presentation. One student on the panel said that she wasn’t a
liberal, but her opinions were absolutely valued in class. So far so
good. But was she a conservative? Yes, because she was “not ready
to put a fork in Bush … yet.” I couldn’t tell if she meant a dinner fork
in his leg or a trident in his hand. Either way, I think it made the
parent’s point.
Every educated parent who is not liberal must face the uncomfortable
reality that the nation’s elite universities are. So are its elite
newspapers and its elite makers of popular culture. On the other hand,
Here’s my solution. If you’re a liberal, send your
son to
After all, if they can handle coed bathrooms, they can
handle anything