abusing the intelligence pool that is my friendslist

[hermionesviolin]

My pieces are in quotes, editor comments in italics.

"If Smith were truly concerned about a diversity of points of view, wouldn't it be seeking out students whose politics lean toward the conservative end of the spectrum? Sure, Smith has a reputation as a liberal if not radical institution, but many places have reputations for being full of rich white people and are trying to change those reputations."
Not quite sure I follow. Many places like where? Many colleges? Are the rich whit epeople trying to change this, or others?"

"Just as people with different class backgrounds or who have lived through different time periods can offer valuable new insights into issues, particularly in classes such as sociology or government, so too can people with different political leanings. Smith encourages debate, but this debate is often circumscribed by the limited scope of political opinion on campus."
This makes it sound like all the Adas have lived through the Great Depression. Perhaps focus on the personal experience aspect of their uniqueness rather than emphasizing the generational.

"A full education requires a variety of perspectives; by minimizing the presence of conservative voices on campus, Smith College does all its students a disservice."
Good point, however, I think there are many conservatives on campus who are simply intimidated and afraid to voice their opinions as enthusiastically as their more abundant liberal counterparts.

Suggestions anyone? Edits due 6pm tonight (Sunday night).

Comments

[hedy.livejournal.com]

I'd rephrase the word "presence" to something more like "appearance" and I'd try to give solid examples of institutions that are trying to change.

Oh, and please tell me you didn't mention Ann Coulter.

[akronohten.livejournal.com]

Under our current president, who came in in the late 80s, DePauw has been trying quite hard to shed its upper class white midwestern male and women who go there to get their Mrs. image. And it's worked. We're only 80% greek, instead of 98%, as we were 10 years ago, for one. We're still near the bottom for midwestern liberal arts colleges in terms of minority faculty and students, but we're improving compared to where we were 10 years ago. And we've become one of the best colleges in terms of administration policies for queers. True, we've produced our radicals in the past (the first Marxist historian in the US, Charles Beard, Barbara Kingsolver, and Vernon Jordan), but we were - until recently - the place where "Thetas come to meet Betas", the phrase attributed to Margreat Meade before she left, hating its environment. So I'd say we're working to shed our traditional conservative image (we're also trying to shed our drinking issue, but that's another topic I don't want to get into). Oxford has been the same way, but it's been a more gradual process.

I'm not sure what any institution could do to encourage conservative (or any other type) of voices. They should be there, of course, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I do think it's getting hard now, with attacks on classical liberalism (John Stewart Mill walks in) from both the left and right. I'm not sure how this trend can be stopped, but I won't let it change my adherence to a sense of the indivudial being free, but also a member of society - as well as a beleif in pluralism as the only honest way of looking at the world.

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

A lot of the questions/comments that Cate had were ones that I would have had. You're knowledge girl, so if you don't have time to track Smith specifically, perhaps you can jump on the net and tie it in to national trends of liberalism vs. conservatism at colleges?

I *know* there was something in the NYT fairly recently, possibly this or last fall, about a change in tides of more conservative students vs. old-school hippie/liberal faculty and their reactions to the Iraq/Afghani war. If growing conservatism is indeed a trend across the country, then it can be tied to things at Smith.

And speaking as an Ayn Rand follower who went to school amongst MANY lefties, I applaud your request for a more balanced view, and truly giving a voice to EVERYONE, so that we can really understand what's going on. /broken record. :)