Anonymous wrote: Anyone recently graduate or have a child who recently graduated? Is it as academic as it once was or has it become more of an LAC activist training ground? Would a kid with middle of the road views feel like a fish out of water there? How would you compare to climate in that regard to other LACs -- like Vassar, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, etc.
I'm thinking of the bit last fall about students demanding the school newspaper be defunded for running an article by a student-military veteran that was interpreted as expressing an unpopular view among the student body. The President (to his credit) had to step in and reject the students demands with his own op-ed.
I had a child who was a recent grad. My impression that Wesleyan is a strong academic place, with very liberal leaning and proclivities. My child has middle-of-the -road views and had a great time there. I am told there are a lot of hipsters there (whatever that means.)
Over the last several years, there have been many campuses that had uprisings over various topics (Yale, Claremont-McKenna, Amherst, Oberlin, etc.) I think it is a sign of the times and this generation rather than emblematic of a particular campus.