Political Ideology on Campus

    Today I was handing out non-partisan pamphlets concerning each presidential candidate’s position on the environment, while wearing an Obama sticker on my jacket. Was I sending a mixed message? Possibly, but whether I was or not, I hope that anecdote sufficiently opens this blog to politics. Now, unlike my fellow blogger Kori, I am going to straight up say, “I am voting for Obama, primarily because of his environmental stances.” But before I scare you away, let me say “THIS IS NOT A PARTISAN BLOG.” My purpose in this blog is to discuss the political and ideological environment on campus and detail my trials and tribulations as a liberal.
    To start, Miami is traditionally a conservative campus. Now there are many theories as to why this is, but it is basically because students normally vote similarly to their parents, and we have a lot of affluence on campus as well as an incredibly strong business program (both of which lean towards a more conservative viewpoint). For better or worse, this has been the norm on campus (voters on campus are usually 70-30 republican in elections) for a significant portion of Miami’s history (if not always). Because of this, coming to Miami for me proved to be quite an eye opening experience in terms of being an ideological minority.
    Last year, as a freshman, I came to Miami realizing that was definitely some inherent bias in political ideology. My experience living in the honors dorm did little to change that belief, and being a business student REALLY helped concrete my view that Miami was pro-conservative bubble. It was often painful for me to try and argue my point to my fellow business students because they viewed my opinions as if I were hugging a tree screaming, “KILL HUMANS, NOT ANIMALS!” (I was not, by the way). But I definitely expressed my belief that the environment should be a real and apparent stakeholder, that profit is not (contrary to the famous Milton Friedman) the bottom line of every business decision, and I felt that diversity education was a necessary and important experience for every person (whatever your ideology). Needless to say I felt outcast from much of my peer business students, a long with a majority contingency of the campus I knew.
    The latter part of last school year and the beginning of my second year has been wonderful in cracking the conservative bubble that I believed pervaded over all of campus. Now, one could blame it on my pursuit of distancing myself from traditional business organizations (Green Oxford, AIESEC, etc.), but honestly I feel what has happened is that we, as a university, have become more ideologically equalizing. The coming election has been a great indicator of this gradual swing in political ideology on the Miami campus. Students around here have never shown as much support for a democrat and/or liberal candidate then in this election (which is AWESOME). There has been so much liberal support that Obama has been smeared all over every board, students have committed hours of their personal time to get students to vote AND (the coup de gras) those who do not support Obama are feeling the pressure of the minority ideology. Now I am not trying to gloat when I say this, but that is refreshing. And it is refreshing for two major reasons: first, this political ideology swing shows that there is some autonomous political thought not directly linked to what our parents feel about politics; second, because it means the campus is becoming more diverse politically and, consequently, in general. This has been traditionally a major problem for Miami in university ratings system and, I feel, it is great to break from that mold.
    In closing, Miami did/does have aspects of a bubble surrounding it. But the beauty of Miami is that the bubble is not all-inclusive; the campus allows for transcendence of this bubble and, indeed, its size and power has greatly decreased in recent years. So, when looking at schools, if culture is an important aspect of campus for you, heed these words: If your ideology is conservative, Miami will always have a place for you; if you ideology is moderate, this means you are either apathetic or unsure, both of which have homes at Miami; finally, if your ideology is liberal, you have a place. It may not be the majority, but it is real and actively pushing this campus towards more liberal initiatives and ideas, more so than in any other time in history, and that is heartening. Finally, let me just say that the beauty of Miami is that is enables students to pursue so many diverse and incredible ventures that there is always the ability for an individual to keep, modify, or reverse an idea or ideology in just four short years. I hope this blog has been helpful to describe the surrounding political ideology here on campus! As always, “This is Johnny Rhythm saying, ‘Goodnight and God Bless!’” – Johnn Lennon.

Comments

[Kori]

The Miami Student also conducted a survey, and 59% of the students are supporting Obama with 37% voting for McCain. :)

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