Campus Conformity: College Students Say They Self-Censor Political Opinions, Poll Finds

A large majority of college students say they’re afraid of talking politics in class, even though they say professors talk politics, according to a poll published Monday.

The poll, which was conducted by the college-ranking site Intelligent, found that 59 percent of students “fear expressing their political beliefs in class.” Eighty-five percent of students, meanwhile, say their professors express political opinions in class, with 15 percent saying professors do so “frequently.” Those political professors are overwhelmingly liberal, according to respondents, with 77 percent of students saying their teachers espouse left-wing ideas.

Americans are losing confidence in universities, the Washington Free Beacon reported, as higher education has increasingly embraced left-wing “wokeness.” Yale Law School disciplined a student for using the term “trap house,” which it deemed “triggering,” while Princeton fired a law professor for criticizing President Joe Biden’s pledge to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. University of Virginia student Emma Camp wrote in March that “strict ideological conformity” is the norm on college campuses.

Thirty-one percent of students say their professors either “occasionally” or “frequently” ridicule them for their political beliefs, with 22 percent saying they have suffered tangible consequences for their beliefs. Nearly three-quarters of students say professors have influenced other students’ beliefs, with 77 percent of conservatives saying college radicalizes liberals.

The poll’s findings are in line with what Camp wrote in March. Many students fear “lower grades if they don’t censor themselves,” she wrote.

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