Democratic college students’ intolerance towards their Republican peers extends beyond the classroom into living arrangements, according to a new survey.
A poll of 432 Dartmouth students conducted last month asked respondents to answer “how comfortable [they] would be having a roommate with opposing political views to [their] own”. Less than 40 percent of Democrats said they would be comfortable in that arrangement, with a full 45 percent saying it would make them uncomfortable. Comparatively, 69 percent of Republican students said they would be comfortable living with a political opponent. In stark contrast to the 45 percent of Democratic students, only 12 percent of Republicans said it would make them feel uncomfortable.
These results, of course, only represent the views of students at one Ivy League college (and the GOP sample is likely small enough to introduce a large margin error). But the poll is useful as a piece of quantitative evidence supporting conservative suspicions about privileged young liberals ensconced in bubbles of academia. As students are increasingly taught to equate the views of non-liberal scholars such as Charles Murray with white supremacy and hate speech, they will, of course, become less tolerant of conservatives in social situations.
I would be uncomfortable living with a white supremacist too.
The potential consequences of this process are chilling. If you think Americans are polarized today, wait until an entire generation of young liberals graduates and enters the working world bearing such a deep discomfort for those with whom they disagree.
It is also important to note that Republican students expressed such low levels of discomfort in the Dartmouth survey. Enduring years of exposure to opposing political views on campus steals young conservatives for a life dealing with disagreement. They are constantly asked to answer the toughest questions about their beliefs and face regular hostility from peers. Speaking from experience, the challenge sharpens their ability to defend their beliefs, an opportunity today’s liberal students do not enjoy. In fact, they actively work to prevent themselves from experiencing that process.
Assuming this pattern can be extrapolated to students at other institutions responsible for churning out the country’s future influences, which I believe it can, the impacts could be a major challenge for decades to come.
The survey, conducted by The Dartmouth, was taken on an opt-in basis over email and has a credibility interval of +/- 4.8.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
