It seems like increasingly common knowledge that college students are liberal. That they lean Democratic. That they care about the environment and their student loans. That they’re progressive. These attributes span across the nation, regardless of which college it is or where they’re located. And students (and faculty) who vote in their campus can effect innumerable changes and consequences. Like how we discussed about ski resort counties last time, this week we’ll be discussing the odd quirk of college campus counties.

 

When one looks at the 2016 US presidential election county map, one seemingly sees a red “sea” interspersed with blue “islands.” These “islands” can be explained by a range of factors – urban areas, majority-minority counties, ski resort areas, and of course, college campuses. This phenomenon of “blue islands” stems from the ever-rightward drifting of rural areas, and the equal leftward drift of more educated people. With each passing election, they look more and more contrasting.

 

As is known, a large amount of universities – namely public – are located in their own cities, some far from larger urban areas. Most of us know of State College, which is located in the middle of Pennsylvania and is around a three-hour drive from both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. But many others exist, such as Bloomington in Indiana, Auburn in Alabama, and Laramie in Wyoming (the home of the University of Wyoming). Because of the large student and faculty population surrounding these campuses, the counties they are located in vote noticeably to the left of much of their neighbors. Even if they vote majority Republican, it is a lot less GOP than other counties.

 

For example, here is the 2016 US presidential election in Wyoming:

 

And here is the 2018 Wyoming gubernatorial election:

 

Here is the 2016 presidential election in our home state of Pennsylvania:

 

And here is Gov. Tom Wolf’s reelection in 2018:

 

And of course, one must not forget about colleges located in larger cities, such as UMich in Ann Arbor, UC Berkeley in Berkeley, California, and Northeastern in Boston. The mobile population adds to the left-lean of the larger urban population, even if it’s only by a tiny fraction.

 

College is a place for growth, where every student can find their passion amidst the hubbub of life away from their parents (for the most part). And as we know, we students take our pre-conceived political beliefs and identity away from our home to our new one. The “liberalness” and left-leaning attributes of college campuses, wherever they are in the nation, are merely characteristic of the larger political beliefs of us students (and faculty). Whether these traits continue into the future, however, has yet to be seen.