A Place To Spread Wings

A study recently showed that attending college makes students more liberal. This may be the case, but the two only correlate loosely. The political views of Boston College students are testaments to this lack of a relationship. College does make many students more liberal, but this is only because these students are already liberal when they arrive on a campus.

Students who arrive at college as conservatives tend to not only remain conservative, but actually become more conservative. College serves to strengthen students' views, not change them entirely. The idea of "roots and wings" explains the strengthening rather than changing of views.

Roots are the values that parents, other important adults, and a student's community at home have instilled in the student before they come to college. This is done in the home around the dinner table and even with the bedtime stories parents tell their future college student. Other important adults such as teachers educate students in a way that will make them liberal or conservative.

If teachers teach social justice and the importance of helping one's fellow man, students will be inclined to become intensely liberal during their college career. If teachers teach students that they have complete control over their own future and fail to mention certain impediments (racism, sexism, classism) to success, students will believe that we live in a perfect meritocracy, the foundation for economic conservatism. If the community from which the student comes is poor and the student has seen firsthand the (negative) effects of poverty, racism, and sexism, then it is likely the student will be liberal. If the community from which a student comes is conservative due to the community having a great deal of money, then the student is likely to be conservative.
College provides an opportunity for students to grow wings, but roots largely determine what the wings will look like and how students will use them. Students in college have time to reflect on and strengthen their values. BC provides over 9,000 undergraduates the outlets that allow them to become either more liberal or more conservative. Professors, many of whom are liberal – the study was correct in stating that scholar academics are more liberal than others – challenge students' conservative views or reinforce their liberal ones.

If a student is liberal, he or she will likely "buy into" the professor's logic. When reflecting on their political views, liberal students will consider this logic, thus strengthening their political views. Conservative students will seek to disprove their professors' logic, driving them to learn more about their viewpoints and the alleged logic behind them. Upon reflection, students will consider the logic that supposedly trumps their professors' logic and will strengthen their conservative views.

BC is composed of many conservative students. Perhaps they are not the majority, but there is a greater percentage here than at other academic institutions composed of intelligent young people. This is due to the affluence and wealth of the families of students at BC. These roots and wings lead to BC graduating many conservative Eagles who will plant conservative roots in the world.