ROGER SIMON COLUMN
APRIL 21, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - - In my personal contacts with Harvard students this semester, I have found that many stereotypes about them are untrue: They are not snooty, they are not all from wealthy families, and they do not have a sense of entitlement.
At least one stereotype is true, however: Most of them are liberal. There are conservatives here, just like there are Republicans here, but mostly the kids are liberal and Democratic.
One of my liaisons - - an undergraduate student assigned to keep me out of trouble - - does a guest column about this topic today. He is Andrew Laitman, 19, a sophomore and math major from Brooklyn, N.Y.:
By Andrew Laitman
When I first came to Harvard, I expected to find some Republicans to debate. While Republicans do exist at Harvard, they are indeed a rare breed.
However, most Republicans that I encounter are too timid to discuss their views. In fact, most don't even want to admit that they are Republicans.
One evening in the dining hall, I was sitting with a friend from California and we were discussing Hillary Clinton. He wasn't a big fan of hers and I asked why.
"I'm a Republican," he whispered.
"What?" I responded, not because he's a Republican, but because I simply couldn't hear him.
He interpreted that to mean that I hate Republicans, which I quickly denied. But his fear somewhat surprised me.
Recently, Douglas Feith, the former Under Secretary of Defense who was a chief architect of the Iraq war, came to speak on campus. During his speech he was heckled and interrupted frequently.
An even more chilling example occurred just last week when the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security came to recruit on campus.
The representatives from these institutions didn't come to Harvard to make a political statement, but rather to hold sessions in which students could learn about careers at the two agencies.
Not only did audience members heckle the speakers, they staged a mock deportation of an immigrant and someone vomited into a bag.
A year and a half ago, Harvard's pro-life campus group had its posters and displays torn down. While a good portion of the student body disapproved of the destruction of the posters, there was still a contingent that supported the destruction because in its view the posters were very offensive.
No wonder many Republicans are afraid to show their faces on campus.
This is very troublesome to me because it hinders honest and open debate. It's unfortunate that I can make the assumption that almost anyone that I run into at Harvard is a Democrat. These assumptions give people the liberty not only to launch attacks on Republican policies but also personal ones on Republicans in conversation among themselves.
But isn't asking people to back off personal attacks censorship of debate? Yes. But if people feel so passionately about their views, shouldn't they feel confident enough to make an argument based on facts rather than on personal attacks?
It puzzles me why there are still so many students on campus who feel like one-sided protests are more effective than open discussions.
Even though I am a registered Democrat, these "chilling effects" have influenced me. During the controversy involving Harvard President Larry Summers, I had some opinions that I was afraid to express out of fear of backlash from some of my female friends.
My opinions were rather nuanced and I was thought that they could be interpreted to mean that I agreed with Larry Summers and wholeheartedly supported him. Yet, I openly expressed these opinions around my male friends.
I don't know whether or not my fear was a reasonable justification in hiding my opinions from women, but I hope that my fellow classmates will accept my opinions regardless of who they are.
Don't feel sorry for me, however. There are plenty of outlets for open and no-holds-barred debate on campus. I just wish that we could have these conversations outside of the traditional outlets.