Ok, so because of half a dozen protests of guest speakers out of over 4000 universities in the US it’s not possible to have ‘alternative’ – or really just conservative views on college campuses? That’s a pretty incredible assumption – and demonstrably false. In that worldview there are no conservative professors on campus, there are no conservative students. Weird, when around 99% of Republican congressmen, members of government, think-tank members, and journalists are college graduates.
Maybe in your world it’s a more recent phenomenon? Now that Berkley and Middlebury have had violent protests against guest speakers – and several other colleges have had non-violent protests of the same – conservatism is dead (or hiding in fear in the dorms) on colleges throughout the US. I mean, that would jive with how there’s no Trump Presidency – since there were protests immediately after inauguration; how the Obama Presidency ended after two years when the Tea Party started; how there are no gun rights/are massive gun rights when people protested…wait, that’s not true at all. When people protest, even violently, it doesn’t mean everyone/everything they are protesting is now suppressed and oppressed.
I get that conservatives feel like college is not a safe-space for conservative thought. I would not have thought it was the protests that sent them scurrying in fear and depression – but instead the higher percentages of students and faculty who identify with liberal politics. But, even in the most expansive interpretation of that worldview it would only be lonelier to be a conservative on a supposedly ‘liberal’ college campus – not somehow against the rules.
I think that’s all fair. I think though, it’s an extreme exaggeration to say you can’t have views out of the norm – even in politics – on a college campus. College Republicans have been in the news a number of times for events that offended their campus – but they’ve existed and been active all the rest of the time they’re not in the news. The idea people might disagree with you, your views might be unpopular, or your augments might not be as strong in class is not the same as saying you can’t exist – or can’t express your views.
What I meant was when talking about social science, public policy, science, or journalism in an academic context. As I’ve addressed I think the idea you can’t have conservative political opinions in college is demonstrably false by the number of conservatives in college – and who have graduated. However, if one is making the argument they can’t argue for conservative positions in these subjects (those are the ones that come to my mind for having ostensibly ‘conservative’ positions) there is some validity to the position – because many of the ‘conservative’ positions in those topics do not have the same level of academic/scientific support as the supposedly ‘liberal’ positions. In those cases – at least in the classroom setting – it’s not enough to use the cable news or internet argument of ‘well, agree to disagree – here are some internet links to my position’ – instead you have to offer evidence in the academic constraints of the topic and class.
For example, on this board, on your facebook feed, or in any forum associated with the RNC you can say all day how President Reagan was the greatest President the US has ever seen for the economy, for national security, and for human rights – and it would be a perfectly valid opinion. But, if you’re trying to make those same arguments in a history class, economics class, public policy class, etc. you’re going to have a much tougher time. There are certainly still scholars who agree and have offered evidence – but the preponderance of scholarly work makes different contentions. Still possible, but more difficult.
And, of course, in these examples I’m thinking of general universities and colleges – I’m sure conservative private universities/colleges (like Liberty, Bob Jones, etc.) might offer the total opposite experience.
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