News > September 18, 2003

By Jordan Rae Smith

Old Gold and Black reporter

Despite a recent national survey concluding that college students will become a driving force in politics in the coming years, many students at the university seem to be indifferent toward political activism.

The survey, conducted by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, revealed that college students are very interested in getting involved with politics, with nearly 60 percent of undergraduates saying they will “definitely be voting” in 2004’s

general election.  Does this level of interest in political involvement exist at Wake Forest?

“I think there’s a lot of [campus] involvement, but I don’t know how much of it’s political,” said Katy Harriger, political science professor.  “I think that’s a pretty small part.” 

“I think on the level of general awareness, we have a student body that’s relatively quite aware of what’s going on, compared to other campuses that I’ve been on,” said Nagesh Rao, English professor.  “But in terms of willingness to actually go against the grain of common sense, to go against the grain of mainstream opinion, I think we lag quite far behind.”

Junior Anjali Garg, president of College Democrats, feels that while many students come to college hoping to explore their political ideologies, the campus community does not always foster such exploration.  “I feel like it doesn’t actively support the idea of questioning,” Garg said.

President of College Republicans, junior Al Rattacassa, had other explanations for the lack of political involvement.  “Many students are either too busy for political activism or just apathetic,” Rattacassa said.

In the time following September 11, many members of the campus community experienced increased conservatism.  “I think for a time, in the 1st year [after September 11] in particular, there was a change [in the political climate], but I think that was true around the country,” said Harriger.  “People were more likely to express views of patriotism and were less willing to criticize the government.  I think that was universal.”

Garg agreed that the change was a national one.  “In general the climate of the country has become more cautious,” she said.  “I don’t think that necessarily means more conservative, but people have become more hesitant to speak their minds.”

Yet political discourse against the government did not cease as a result of September 11.  As the country prepared to go to war with Iraq, the debate between those for and against the war became prominent on campus.  Garg said she was happy to see political activism on campus, although College Democrats was not specifically involved with the movement.  While Rattacassa did not necessarily agree with the movement, he did note that “one of the greatest things about this country is that we have freedom of speech and the right to assemble.”

The anti-war movement clearly brought out some liberal opinions on this campus, but it may have done little to change the overall political climate.  “I think that during the Iraq war there was anti-war questioning on campus,” Rao said.  “Despite that though, I think that the atmosphere on campus remains generally conservative.”

But is the campus becoming increasingly conservative?  Harriger, who has been at the university since 1985, said that she has actually seen the students become more liberal in her time here. She noted that when she came to the university, there was neither a women’s issues group, nor an environmental group.  Now, however, the university is home to the Women’s Initiative for Support and Empowerment, and the Student Environmental Action Coalition.

Rao said that since arriving at the university three years ago, he hasn’t witnessed a change in the political climate.  “I think this a very conservative campus, and I don’t see that changing any time soon,” Rao said.  “I think the few liberal voices out there remain pretty much on the sidelines.”

Harriger often has students in her Introduction to American Politics class write a paper explaining how their own political attitudes have developed.  “I would definitely say that over the years, if that’s [the paper] a measure, that students are not more conservative.”  Harriger also noted that in her earlier years at the university, students would write in their papers that although they were Democrats, they chose not to discuss it because of the predominantly conservative campus. “I don’t get that as often as I used to,” Harriger said.

Most members of the campus community agree that although students may feel strongly about their political affiliations, there is not a great deal of political involvement.  “Students here are so bogged down with work and other extra-curricular activities that political activism may not be on the top of their priority lists,” Rattacassa said.

There is a general consensus that students from both sides of the spectrum may be hesitant in revealing their political ideologies for fear of chastisement, or other repurcussions.  “Some students are afraid to speak their minds, since professors are the ones with the grade books,” Rattacassa said.  Garg agreed that while some students are hesitant to reveal their political affiliations, others are not shy about doing so.  “There are also lots of students who wear it on their sleeves—literally on their sleeves, on their t-shirts,” Garg said.  “If they really care about their own affiliation, they’ll talk about it.”

Rattacassa felt that many students are afraid to reveal their views because of the perceived intolerance of the faculty.  “Many only want to hear what the left has to say, which is why it is essential for students to speak up,” Rattacassa said.  Some felt that the faculty was not to blame for students’ hesitation to discuss politics.  “In my experience, professors do not really make a point of sharing their political beliefs, but students, especially conservatives, do,” said junior Brian Beglin.  “A large majority of students at Wake Forest are conservative and have a hard time being tolerant of other perspectives.”

Regardless of the political preferences of the faculty or the student body, there are obviously many reasons for the minimal political activity on this campus.  Harriger, along with Jill McMillian of the communications department, is conducting research with randomly selected students in the class of 2005 to measure their interest in politics.  She said they often see people who either don’t have time or aren’t interested in politics.  “They’re describing a culture not conducive to sitting around and talking about political events,” Harriger said.  She noted, however, that this was not unique to this campus: “I think a lot of what you see at Wake Forest in terms of civic engagement is true across the country.”