Ok, here's a simple riddle: who are left, few, and black and blue?
The answer, of course, would be the members of the liberal population here at Hillsdale College. It's no mystery that a staggering majority of students on campus are decidedly conservative in political and economic outlook. While most members of that group would agree that it's great to be among allies, I must express my opinion that one-sidedness on campus may not be the healthiest thing, at least for an environment in which everyone is supposed to be formulating their own philosophies for the long run.
Though in the eyes of some diehard Republicans I probably deserve torture for some of my leftist opinions, but I don't think that my own political opinions have much to do with the situation. An important aspect of formulating and exercising one's views – whatever those may be – is that they are one's own, and don't simply disappear or transform in the face of any given challenge. One thing I really enjoy about Hillsdale is that there are so many students who will openly share the opinions they've formulated, but sometimes I wonder how much of this phenomenon is due to the fact that the political sphere around here is so utterly one-sided. After all, the proud conservative leanings of the college don't exactly attract legions of liberal prospective students. Consequently, much of the healthy opposition on the political spectrum – the trial by fire through which many right-wing students could have the opportunity to strengthen their views, or understand why others with conflicting views believe what they do – doesn't exist.
While I'm not suggesting that the college rethink its valuable ideals or attempt to cater to those on the left, I think it is important for more people to recognize that having such a vastly one-sided student body can actually be detrimental in some ways. Some students could, in theory, never have their ideas strengthened through challenge on campus. I've been to other college campuses that are so liberally dominated that it is essentially the same situation in reverse. Subsequently, having a staggering majority poses a limitation to healthy political interaction, though it would seem like liberal propaganda to many Hillsdale readers. What appears to be a befuddling paradox – that stamping out all liberal ideologies isn't really a good thing – isn't such a difficult or subversive idea (though eradication of the left surely garners many hurrahs).
I know a pastor who once gave a particular sermon during a election season, claiming, “Conservatives and liberals need each other.” I firmly believe in this idea, and it's not because I grew up in some longhair, dove-toting, commune. On the contrary, the healthy, though often heated political discussion is commonplace at home; my dad is as staunchly Republican as my mom is liberal, with my siblings somewhere in between. Many times I have been asked why, as a liberal, I even considered an institution such with Hillsdale. My response was that it wasn't about a particular political affiliation, but for the education and its quality: Isn't an important aspect of education the exposure to a variety of foreign, novel, and even rival ideas in order to shape one's own convictions? The campus that so adamantly emphasizes individualistic democracy appears to lack the array of views that would seem to complement it. I would rather not be alone in benefiting from such an important interaction, and when it comes down to it, I doubt that the small handful of liberals on campus really have the energy to go about testing the views of every conservative on campus.
I have found that studying at Hillsdale does not just provide excellent academic and social opportunities, but also offers me – with some of my nearly alien leftist notions – a healthy, challenging context to strengthen my own views. I would simply like the same context to be available to more of my peers on the right. How is this accomplished when healthy political interaction is stagnated to only a single side, right or left? Conservatives and liberals need one other. In one sense, it almost seems as though one could legitimately ask, “What is the value of your own views when there is no one around to offer enough opposition for you to strengthen them?”
Noah Kerr is a Hillsdale College freshman considering a major in music.