2008 Woodie Awards
Elephant in the Room: Conservatives at Macalester
Anna Chastain takes a look at the political minority here at Macalester. What is it like to hold conservative views on a largely liberal campus? Read on.
By: Anna Chastain
Issue date: 4/21/06 Section: Features
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Thereâ?TMs no question that conservatives are scarce at Macalester.There is the Mac GOP and the occasional opinion piece in the Mac Weekly laying out a conservative perspective on an issue. In class there is from time to time a person who identifies right of center and wants to talk about it. But the in-class divide is more often between those ready to climb in bed with Lacan and Foucault and those who arenâ?TMt, between those who can differentiate Marxist theory from Stalin and those who canâ?TMt.
It seems not unreasonable that at a school whose average politics sit somewhere to the left of the bulk of the Democratic party, conservatives might choose to fly below the radar.
I caught up with four of Macalesterâ?TMs self-identified conservatives this past week and asked them why they decided to come to such a liberal school, how they like it now that they are here and what has been happening with their politics. Their reasons for coming here were not unusual. Macalesterâ?TMs academics, location, and reputation as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country all played their part.
Joseph Schultz â?TM06, the current chair of the Mac GOP, was drawn here as a transfer from St. Thomas for Macalesterâ?TMs Economics Department. â?oeI was interested in economics, I went to the department and looked around,â?? Schultz said, â?oeit seemed fine, and by and large they are. They have a pretty good balance with their faculty on both sides.â?? Schultz describes St. Thomas as much more â?oebalancedâ?? politically, but he remains impressed with Macalesterâ?TMs Economics Department.
Brian Ranwick â?TM08 was recruited to play basketball at Macalester. Ranwickâ?TMs first semester on campus was the 2004 presidential election, and he says the political atmosphere on campus seemed more extreme than it does now. He is also less interested in being vocal now. â?oeI feel like I was a lot more vocal the first time I was here and now I just really donâ?TMt care,â?? he said.
It seems not unreasonable that at a school whose average politics sit somewhere to the left of the bulk of the Democratic party, conservatives might choose to fly below the radar.
I caught up with four of Macalesterâ?TMs self-identified conservatives this past week and asked them why they decided to come to such a liberal school, how they like it now that they are here and what has been happening with their politics. Their reasons for coming here were not unusual. Macalesterâ?TMs academics, location, and reputation as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country all played their part.
Joseph Schultz â?TM06, the current chair of the Mac GOP, was drawn here as a transfer from St. Thomas for Macalesterâ?TMs Economics Department. â?oeI was interested in economics, I went to the department and looked around,â?? Schultz said, â?oeit seemed fine, and by and large they are. They have a pretty good balance with their faculty on both sides.â?? Schultz describes St. Thomas as much more â?oebalancedâ?? politically, but he remains impressed with Macalesterâ?TMs Economics Department.
Brian Ranwick â?TM08 was recruited to play basketball at Macalester. Ranwickâ?TMs first semester on campus was the 2004 presidential election, and he says the political atmosphere on campus seemed more extreme than it does now. He is also less interested in being vocal now. â?oeI feel like I was a lot more vocal the first time I was here and now I just really donâ?TMt care,â?? he said.
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