As a campus tour guide last summer I fielded a variety of awkward questions about Brown, ranging from the somewhat unoriginal ("What did YOU get on the SAT?") to the vaguely disdainful ("Can't you major in underwater basket weaving here?"). After a few spins around the campus with large tour groups in tow, however, most of these queries proved easy to manage with a few well-rehearsed words and a big smile. But there was one question that I could never answer comfortably. It usually went something like this: "I heard that Brown is really liberal. Is that true?"
The more conservative tour-goers usually were looking for assurance that they (or their child) would not be ostracized at Brown, while those of a more liberal variety tended to want assurance that they would be welcomed into a left-winger's paradise of tolerance and social activism. But my discomfort in answering this question had less to do with figuring out who needed which response - that was easy enough - and more with my actual feelings about the University's political climate. Though Brown is known for being a bastion of liberalism and a hotbed of social activism, these descriptions don't quite match my own experience as a student.
As a high-schooler, I had heard that Brown was full of hippies, commies and anarchists, that all of them were militant activists, that political correctness was the rule both in and out of class, and that not a single Republican could be found on campus. Despite being left of center myself, I was somewhat apprehensive about entering a politically homogenous community in which no one would challenge my views. I imagined sweeping campus protests occurring constantly, complete with laughably obscure, knee-jerk liberal causes and a strict dress code of tie-dye and hemp garb (shoes optional, of course). Fortunately, the campus' friendly, vibrant atmosphere and self-directed curriculum won me over, and I chose to apply
anyway.
Once at Brown my expectations of extreme liberalism and activism were not met, even though everyone continues to consider this a progressive campus. In my experience, it's far more common to find popped collar-sporting prepsters than patchouli-doused peaceniks. Parties appear more often than protests on most students' extracurricular schedules. Rather than political correctness, I've encountered an array of racial, religious and sexual epithets I'd never heard uttered aloud at my all-girls high school in New York.
Our campus is also surprisingly disengaged from contemporary politics considering its reputation. In any given week at Brown, one can find a wide range of lectures, meetings and other events focused on sociopolitical issues, often with a left-wing slant. But many of these events are poorly attended.
Take, for example, an April lecture by former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, a consistent critic of the Bush administration's claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as well as current U.S. policy in the Middle East. Though one might have expected Ritter to draw a large sampling of Brown's supposedly liberal, anti-Bush student body, the lecture hall was just one-third full. This is often the case, though larger-name speakers - the kind your friends at home might be impressed by, like the Clintons or Barack Obama - usually bring in a full house. Brown students may call themselves liberal, but most spend little time informing and enriching their political views.
Beyond the large portion of Brown students who are simply not engaged in political or social causes, many students here just aren't that liberal. Campus conservatives often bemoan their status as an oppressed minority, but many of them are more outspoken than their liberal peers in and out of class. Most Brunonians are quick to show their support of hot social causes like gay marriage or abortion rights, but their enthusiasm and conviction dies down when it comes to other liberal issues like the minimum wage or the welfare state.
In fact, the fantastic Flaming Lips concert at this year's Spring Weekend offered perhaps the strongest showing of shoeless, peace-loving, pot-smoking hippies I have encountered in the last four years. Along with most other attendees, I cheered the shower of trippy neon confetti and oversized balloons floating from the stage, as well as lead singer Wayne Coyne's denunciations of the Iraq war and our "retarded" president.
I might choose a different word to describe George W. Bush, but these are sentiments with which I - and, apparently, most of my cheering classmates - agree. Around me, however, people became restless and stopped paying attention. A fellow student joked sarcastically, "Well, I'd better cheer or everyone will think I'm a Bush supporter."
This comment highlighted a truism about politics at Brown: much of it is just for show. Most Brunonians will nod in agreement when they hear a standard, easily identifiable liberal position, but a good number of them are rolling their eyes, and the rest aren't listening at all.
Of course, Brown is home to a number of students who have done commendable work on a variety of issues linked with the left (gay rights, homelessness, health care and educational equality, to name a few). The majority of students take part in some form of community service through the Swearer Center for Public Service. These efforts are certainly important contributions to our local and broader communities that should not be ignored.
But they are not signs of the radical activism and progressivism for which Brown students are known. The same "student activists" tend to appear in The Herald day after day, either in protest coverage or on the opinions and letters pages. This is symptomatic of a larger trend at Brown: the hardcore few standing for the apathetic, disaffected or otherwise occupied many.
I know fewer people taking positions with Teach For America, the Peace Corps and socially conscious non-profits than those joining consulting firms and investment banks. The 2008 presidential race is well under way, but I don't know of a single acquaintance working for a campaign or political cause after graduation.
There is so much to be proud of at Brown, such as our committed faculty, creative students, distinctive curriculum and beautiful campus. I feel lucky to have spent my undergraduate years here and absolutely would make the same choice to come here if I had to do it over again. But political awareness and activism is one area in which we simply could do better.
According to Brown's Web site, the school's mission is "to serve the community, the nation, and the world by educating and preparing students to 'discharge the offices of life with usefulness and reputation.'" As we stand right now, students are not adequately aware of, engaged in or challenged by the issues that face their community, nation and world to make such a difference.
So many here like to consider themselves liberal. But being liberal is not just about nursing one's liberal guilt by bemoaning the effects of "capitalism" (an oft-misused word around here, by the way - it's not just a synonym for "injustice") and laughing at Bush jokes.
The superficiality of liberalism at Brown, as well as the assumption that we all agree on a few basic issues, prevents us from having legitimate political debates. If students at Brown do care about changing their world - and maybe they don't, despite the "hotbed of social activism" rep - then they have to be honest about what they believe.
Further, if Brown students care to maintain their reputation (and, again, maybe they don't), they need to become more informed, more engaged and more aware of what they themselves believe. I urge my peers who will be at Brown in the coming years to examine their beliefs. You just might not be that liberal, left, progressive or whatever you like to call it. And that's OK. Just don't try to fool yourself (or your classmates, friends and professors, for that matter). The better you know yourself, the better you will be able to challenge your peers, ask questions and see how you can be a "useful" citizen.
I'm fairly certain there is a complex array of political beliefs and values beneath the student body's leftist veneer. If future Brunonians can just bring it to the surface, they will be better able to live up to Brown's mission. And maybe you'll spare the tour guides some awkwardness, too.
