Smeared, Scorned, And Shouted Down: My Experience As An Openly Conservative Valedictorian At Dartmouth

I recently graduated from Dartmouth College where I was honored as a valedictorian. During the graduation ceremony, the college’s president, Phil Hanlon, gave a speech in which he lauded Dartmouth for being a place where people approach questions “with a truly open mind” and “respectfully debate [their] conclusions with others, especially seeking out those who hold different points of view.” As an openly conservative student, I can say that none of this was true.

This is probably not surprising, given the fact that college campuses are overwhelmingly Left-leaning, but when I was accepted at Dartmouth, although I didn’t expect the vast majority of my classmates to agree with my political views, I hoped that there would at least be a willingness to engage with conservative ideas. Not only was that not the case, but it quickly became apparent that the student body viewed conservatives as both unintelligent and morally reprehensible. I feel that this gave them license to attack conservatives with a maliciousness that’s hard to believe.