Not In My College Dorm, thank you! That’s what almost half of Dartmouth College Democratic students say about having a roommate who’s conservative, Campus Reform reports. A recent survey found some hesitation among Republican students at the college to share their space with liberals, but it was nowhere near the same number.
The Dartmouth survey received responses from 432 students who answered four questions that were designed to test the degree of political tension at the college.
Unlike the real world, 63 percent of those who responded said they were Democrats, 23 percent Republicans and 14 percent independents.
President Donald Trump did not perform well among any of the categories, registering an 85 percent disapproval rating, with 69 percent saying they “strongly disapprove” of the president. Only 11 percent indicated that they approved of Trump, five percent strongly, and four percent weren’t sure, making the current president less popular at Dartmouth than Richard Nixon at the height of Watergate.
Having determined the college to be a unfriendly territory for either Republicans or Trump supporters, the survey sought input on how deep the level of hostility was between students of “opposing political views.”
Seeking to determine the extent to which these opposing viewpoints exert influence over interpersonal relations, the paper next asked how comfortable each student would be having a roommate with “opposing political views.”
Overall, a relatively low 33 percent of respondents indicated that politics was an issue with whom they shared a room — but that’s only because the level of hostility was much lower among Republicans and independents. Fully 45 percent of Democratic students said they would not wish to share space or time with a conservative while 31 percent of Republicans shared that sentiment.
Entering further sensitive territory, the survey asked students if they would oppose the presence of various conservative speakers on campus, such as Milo Yiannopoulos or Charles Murray.
The survey next asked whether students would support allowing various conservative speakers on campus, listing Richard Spencer, Milo Yiannopoulos, Charles Murray, Donald Trump, and Mitt Romney as options.
Republicans and independents supported free speech but Democrats consistently vetoed each speaker, with 52 percent of them saying Yiannopoulos should be banned from the college.
“I believe these results are an accurate depiction of the Dartmouth campus,” Dartmouth College Republicans co-vice president Charles Springer told Campus Reform. “In reality, I am sure the ‘strong support’ for President Trump is slightly higher than five percent, however it is certainly a small minority of the campus, far less than one would expect or hope for in a liberal arts environment.”
The survey didn’t just illlustrate the overwhelming hegemony of liberal Democrats at the college according to Springer, who says the results show an “alarming” tendency for students to seek safe spaces where they won’t hear political views that are different from their own.
“A liberal arts education is supposed to be all about exposing people to new ways of thinking and seeing every aspect of life, and yet so many people who attend these elite institutions have absolutely no regard for anyone who disagrees with them,” he said.
