Being a conservative or libertarian on a liberal campus can feel threatening at first. The campus political scene seems to be dominated by big-government types ranging from Democrats to socialists, and is supported by the mainstream Michigan Daily and left-leaning faculty. You may be alarmed by those in the Diag that are eager to explain how the United States is a fascist empire hell-bent on world domination or why Lyndon LaRouche should be our next president. And to be sure, students voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in 2008.
Fortunately, I have watched campus politics shift towards the center in my years as an undergraduate. The Michigan Daily now has several free-market oriented columnists and editors that have been quite successful at presenting liberty-oriented viewpoints you won't typically find in the classroom. The radical pro-affirmative action group BAMN, unarguably the most obnoxious campus group which made no mistake of its fondness of verbal and physical confrontation, is nowhere to be after Michigan voters overwhelmingly rejected race-based preferences at the ballot box in 2006.
Although it is true that apathy, not "liberal" or "conservative" is the most widespread political affiliation among students, there are several libertarian and conservative groups that actively promote individual liberty and free-markets on campus. College Republicans will be gearing up for 2010 by phone-banking and volunteering in other ways for a variety of candidates in the state. Last year, College Libertarians brought in speakers such as 20/20's John Stossel and Patrick Michaels from the Washington-based Cato Institute to discuss the dangers of government involvement in our lives (Disclosure: I served as Chair of the group during last year). Other groups that may interest you include Young Americans for Freedom, Students for Life, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Campus Objectivists, and Students for a Free Economy. You can find out more about these groups at Festifall, which is held in the Diag at the beginning of the year.
That's where we come in. At The Michigan Review, we take pride in our conservative and libertarian outlook not because we simply feel like being contrarians, but because our principled stance on campus events leads us there. Indeed, while most of us proudly wear maize and blue and love our campus and University, there is no shortage of issues which would be misconstrued and overlooked without an independent perspective. We seek to challenge the status quo on campus, something that is very important in an otherwise liberal city. We are always looking for new staffers too, so come and stop by our office on the first floor of The Michigan League.
Ann Arbor has an incredibly lively student body, and politics play an enormous part. It will certainly take some time to get used to if you are a conservative or libertarian. But once the shock of college life wears off, you will begin to understand the excitement of campus political life and the opportunities that it holds for politicos of all persuasions. Welcome to campus, of course: Go Blue.
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