Are Reedies intolerant of religious affiliations and some of the other
trappings of more conservative political views? That Reed is politically liberal would
seem to be understood, but even that definition slips and slides.
Political science major Osman Balkan '05, for example, finds the Reed campus to be liberal
only in the Democrats-for-Kerry sense. "It is sort of embarrassing to think that this
is what liberalism in America means," he says, "but that's the nature of the
political spectrum in this country today."
Sammy Hidalgo '05, a political science and philosophy major, says there is no question
liberals dominate the campus. "I've only known two Republicans at Reed," he says. "Neither
talked about politics. One was a social conservative and would never ever say anything."
"I would guess we have more registered Democrats than Republicans among students," Professor
of History and Humanities Jacqueline Dirks '82 says, "but I think students would be
surprised by the political beliefs of some of their professors; many supported the initial
invasion of Iraq. There are numbers of vocal students who declare themselves libertarians,
while others profess to be too disillusioned with political parties to do anything but
decline to vote."
Seyram Butame '08, a first-year student from Ghana, used to consider himself a liberal. "The
way I understood the word ‘liberal' was ‘being able to tolerate differences'
whilst ‘conservatives' were intolerant," he says. "Perhaps it is because
of the period that I've been here, but I would define Reed as being almost intolerant—so
much so that people who consider themselves moderate are intimidated to speak their minds."
However the variables are framed, the tilt is clearly to the left. Other recent examples
of liberal passions are Quest articles protesting what the authors feel are a
too-conservative commencement speaker, and letters to the editor of Reed expressing
outrage about articles on right-leaning alumni. But another measure of left-wing politics
is the feelings of vulnerability and isolation conservative students say they experience
when they try to talk politics.
One way Reedies express their intolerance, according to Casana, is mockery. "It's
not a dialogue or a debate, it's not even shouting. It's making fun, undermining any legitimacy
of the other viewpoint." In that sense, he says, "The dogmatic liberal is similar
to the dogmatic Christian—intolerant, severely critical and hostile—out of
a conviction that it's the right thing to do."
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