On College Campuses, Now Even Hillary is a Dirty Word

While Bernie may characterize her as otherwise, on the political spectrum, Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton is still very much a liberal.  In fact, she’s veered even more in that direction to stay competitive in the increasingly close contest with the Senator from Vermont.

Elite universities have traditionally served as a bastion for student liberalism, but, apparently, Mrs. Clinton’s politics aren’t quite liberal enough even for them.  According to a Letter to the Editor that appeared in The New York Times over the weekend: “At Harvard, admitting that #ImWithHer is nearly tantamount to boasting “Make America Great Again.”  Yes, supporting Hillary is almost as bad as getting on the #TrumpTrain, according to these students.

Sam Koppelman, an op-ed writer for the Harvard Crimson wrote:

Over this time, my political beliefs have remained unchanged. I still support entitlements, loathe mass incarceration, advocate for L.G.B.T.Q. rights, and believe in the government’s power to improve lives and create sweeping change. This ideology makes me a Democrat in the vein of Barack Obama, Jed Bartlet (“West Wing”) and even Mrs. Clinton. But on my college campus, I might as well be Pat Buchanan…..

When defending Mrs. Clinton becomes as unacceptable as bigotry, when her supporters are called privileged, oppressive and stupid, we lose the central feature of our democracy — pluralism.

Indeed, by surrounding themselves with only those who share their narrow set of political beliefs, the students who make up the liberal base on college campuses perpetuate the very oligarchical traditions they lament.

I’m a Hillary supporter. In their eyes, I might as well be a College Republican.

And, Harvard is not the only elite institution where being pro-Hillary is scorned.  At Columbia University, the atmosphere was described by writer Ginia Bellafante like this:

To be 18 or 25 or in your early 30s and support Hillary Clinton can be compared to loving synthetic wool in New Zealand. It is a lonely and alienating relationship that will leave you vulnerable to accusations that you fail to appreciate the genuine, the authentic.

Interestingly, according to a recent LawNewz.com analysis, employees at the nation’s ‘Top 10’ universities haven’t exactly jumped on the Bernie bandwagon.  In fact, Hillary Clinton got a whopping 83% of all presidential campaign donations from professors, administrators, and employees. To note, so far, there have been no pro-Clinton chalk sightings. We will be sure to update accordingly.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.