The first time reading through Sara Mikolajczak’s column in the send home to freshman edition of the Badger Herald, I didn’t think too much of it. But after some thought, I began to realize the significance of the first two paragraphs.
Campus climate is changing. And I’m not talking about Al Gore-style climate change; this is change that actually exists. Political change.
Deep within the bastion that is the University of Wisconsin, students are starting to realize not everything force-fed to them in Madison is fact. What’s more, they’re starting to question these so-called truths and speak out about them. It didn’t happen overnight, and there’s still a lot of work to be done, but the truth is that the conservative movement on college campuses across America is growing, and UW is in the upsweep. If you find yourself questioning your peers when they tell you the surge isn’t working or light rail in Madison is a good idea, the College Republicans might be the place for you. If you’re interested in this movement back towards limited government, less government spending, a strong national defense and personal responsibility, the College Republicans might be the place for you. As an extension of the big tent party, we involve students who are self-proclaimed Libertarians to moderates and all the way to the so-called “neo-cons.” Come check us out. What can it hurt?
Students becoming more conservative is the exact opposite of what Glenn Grothman asserted in his rebuking of the selection of Biddy Martin as chancellor.
First, it’s important the chancellor stop the left-wing drift at the University campus. I have heard complaints from parents of students at several campuses that they think the universities are spending too much time indoctrinating their children in left-wing values and not enough time preparing them for a job in the real world. I’ve heard of concerns that it would be difficult to be hired as a professor or get tenure as a professor in many departments if they do not toe the left-wing party line. Students are afraid in some classes their grade will be affected if they don’t agree with their professor’s views.
I think its quite a statement on the idea perpetrated by some state legislators that UW-Madison is a place of liberal indoctrination that is getting worse all the time when the Chair of the College Republicans claims the polar opposite is occurring. In my mind this is the trump card in the conservative/liberal drift of campus debate. Mikolajczak is not only on the same side of the political aisle as Grothman and Nass, but who else is more qualified to assess changing political views among students? It’s a hell of a lot easier to keep a pulse on growing numbers of conservatives than decreasing numbers of liberals.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Democurmudgeon // Aug 15, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Conservatives are everywhere, it’s just that they whine all the time that they’re getting picked on. I guess if you say racist bigoted things, you might have a more difficult time in society. But I’m only guessing.
Just finished my blog on Sykes and Grothman’s attack on our college campus’.
http://democurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2008/08/sykes-promotes-racism-and-bigotry-gets.html
2 Emily // Aug 18, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I like how contradictory these two things are: “…less government spending, a strong national defense…” - just sayin’.
I suspect that when certain parents complain about “liberal indoctrination” on campuses, what they’re really complaining about is exactly what college is supposed to do for kids: open their minds up to differing viewpoints, new ideas, and a greater depth of knowledge than they were exposed to in most high schools. What they choose to do with all of that is up to them, but I’d hardly call having a wider view of the world “liberal” - just, y’know, good.
3 Paul Axel // Aug 18, 2008 at 10:18 pm
I really don’t think that UW is becoming more conservative. I think that they’re becoming more frustrated, especially given the decline of the GOP brand in the last 7 years, and the strength that Obama is currently running in this state.
With that frustration comes more vocal expression, in the way of this not-so-hot opinion.
Then again, this is the girl who called Madison a “liberal cesspool”, so it seems to be variations on a theme in this instance.
4 Katharine // Aug 20, 2008 at 12:28 pm
In all seriousness, I wonder if she has a problem with, y’know, different views. Because diversity of views works both ways.
And conservatives are notoriously uncomfortable with differences.
5 vbp // Aug 20, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I would argue there has always been a steady (albeit far from dominant) conservative undercurrent at UW going back decades and that the same is probalby true at most universities its size.
I attended UW from 1996-2000 when the Seg Fee battle was in full tilt. The way conservative activitsts, their water carriers in the Badger Herald, and seemingly hundreds of campus chalkings would have had you believe, the Seg Fee funding system violated every tenant of ordered liberty and would not survive a legal challenge. A unanmious SCOTUS decision (meaning that, yes, even Justice Scalia saw nothing wrong with it) quickly shut them up. And then it was time for an election. And then 9/11 happened. And then there was a war. And then another election. And so on and so forth.
There will always be students with a conservative outlook at UW, just as there will always be conservatives in society. They are not a unique or insular minority. What happens in college is that liberal and progressive voices are uniquely empowered such as to make them better funded, more organized, and more responsive than they would otherwise be in “the real world”. This is not to say that UW is an inherently liberal place and conservatives should shut the F up, but that the dynamics of student politics almost universally have an unabashedly left-of-center tilt as a results of this simple structural fact.
Regardless of where you stand on the ideological spectrum, you deserve to have the same means and opportunity to advocate and organize for your cause because it’s a critical part of your intellectual development. That “one side” tends very often to have more of the machinery in place than the other is not violative of this principle by any means.
6 guy who thought student government was a joke // Aug 23, 2008 at 10:53 am
I think Sara’s having delusions of grandeur…
7 Fear-mongering is my fav // Sep 2, 2008 at 9:25 am
It’s pretty clear that right-wing viewpoints are uncommon on campus. So those that have them need to be more vocal to sound more important. To seem like they represent hundreds…thousands…instead of dozens. If Madison is liberal it’s because most of the students are, in fact, liberal. It’s not becoming more conservative, it’s the reps becoming more vocal about their state of non-importance
8 Brandon // Sep 7, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I personally believe that intelligent conservatism, that is, the true roots of conservatism with a balanced budget, reduced government influence, good foriegn relations through diplomacy, and increased freedoms, is on the rise. The GOP is disillusioned and has gone astray from these typical conservative beliefs, and its not going to last long. Sooner or later, true conservatism is going to triumph.
9 Dustin // Sep 7, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I think some people are confusing what some like to call the “religious right” with “conservative.” Most educated conservatives do not believe that religion should dictate government, or that students are going to hell for their sins as the fire and brimstone guys on state street would have you believe. People like that are few in numbers, but they are loud.
The majority conservatives on campus tend to be a lot quieter. We do not protest or make giant banners. We don’t put bumper stickers on our cars. We are, in fact, open minded people who have simply come to a different conclusion than campus liberals and the professors who teach them.
To Democurmudgeon-Conservatives are also NOT by definition racist. I find the fact the many liberals link the two together rather offensive. I am certain I can find you lots of people in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin who have voted with the Democrats in the past and are pretty racist, but I would never suggest that all Dems must be racist based on a bunch idiots that I know. That would be ridiculous.
There are a lot of conservatives on campus. Certainly not enough to outnumber the liberals, but they are there. I find it quite odd that liberals preach being PC, accepting others for their own backgrounds and ideas, and other such hoo-ha, but many find that someone with another political persuasion is exempt from this. Just remember we are here. We hear what you say and read what you write. Biased reporting and mass generalizations about conservatives may be an easy read for the majority of students on campus, but it often looks foolish to the outside world, which is part of why this university has been branded as exceedingly liberal.
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