In The Herald’s Fall 2025 Poll, 46% of respondents said they felt uncomfortable expressing their political beliefs at Brown, but this trend is more pronounced among conservative students.
Over half of right-leaning students said they have felt uncomfortable sharing their political views in class, compared to about a quarter of liberal students.
In interviews with The Herald, students said their peers may experience discomfort when sharing their views because they fear social ostracization on campus. For conservatives, this fear may stem from a belief that their peers are less likely to share their viewpoints, students said.
“Brown in particular is pretty liberal,” said Faith Park ’29, who identifies as a Democrat. Since students generally agree on politics, she said, there aren’t many opportunities for disagreement.
In The Herald’s most recent poll, 78% of students identified as liberal or progressive, with less than 7% of students identifying as conservative.
Gray Bittker ’27 described himself as fairly moderate and slightly right-leaning in an interview with The Herald, and said he identifies with the politics of Republicans such as “Mitt Romney and the McCains.” Bittker said he appreciates that his friends are accepting of his opinions, but he wasn’t surprised to hear that others are afraid to share their views publicly.
Some of Bittker’s friends worry “they would be ostracized and would lose a lot of friends” if people found out they were Republicans, he said. “It’s just a very real fear.”
Other conservative students reported similar discomfort. About 72% of conservative students said they have felt uncomfortable expressing their political beliefs in a social setting, compared to just 37% of very liberal students, according to The Herald’s poll.
“Brown actually does a fairly decent job in the classroom setting,” Bittker said. “People are more willing to be challenged in class, especially with a professor present.”
Associate Professor of Political Science Alex Gourevitch said multiple students have told him they felt uncomfortable expressing their opinions in class.
“In the past, I had students tell me they were afraid to express viewpoints that would offend campus liberals,” he wrote in a message to The Herald. “I have had students tell me more recently that they were afraid to express views about Trump, Israel and American politics generally.”
The nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression ranked Brown 187th in their free speech rankings. Brown also received F’s in speech climate and political tolerance.
Emma Savarese ’29, who identifies as liberal, recalled instances in class where one student shares a perspective that “may not be the common opinion in the room.” In those moments, she’s noticed that classmates will “look around at each other” uncomfortably.
“Maybe I’ve been part of that too,” Savarese acknowledged. Still, she said students don’t tend to explicitly silence opposing perspectives. “Generally, you’ll never hear someone try to shut them down,” she said.
Beyond respect between classmates, “It’s important that professors try to provide an unbiased perspective and encourage conversation instead of trying to enforce a certain perspective,” Saverese said.
Gourevitch explained that he tries “to represent all views that I am discussing in class as fairly as possible, so the class is about the reading and material, rather than about my personal political views.”
“We only make progress through disagreement,” he added.
Bittker believes open discussion can be educational and political conversations should not be high stakes. “If you’re wrong, then you’re wrong and your opinions can change,” he said. “That’s not the end of the world.”
Marat Basaria is a senior staff writer covering activism.
