Freshman Change, but What of Oberlin?

Survey reveals that Obies' attitudes have remained remarkably similar over the years

by Peter Goldsmith

Freshman Behrad Mahdi, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, was a member of Oberlin's football team last fall. Have a picture in your mind?

Think again. In addition to playing football during his first year at Oberlin, Mahdi -- who's also a violist -- studied sophomore-level mathematics, became interested in Amnesty International, and took piano instruction for credit.

Oberlinians have long believed that they defy conventional stereotypes and resist the merely fashionable, but they often suspect that current students are less involved than students once were. Is that true?

Some interesting insights can be derived from a survey of first-year students at hundreds of colleges across the country administered each fall by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The survey collects a range of data, including information about students' high-school experiences, their educational and career aspirations, and their attitudes about a range of national political issues. Now in its 35th year, it is the most comprehensive survey of its kind and aims to show how the attitudes and aspirations of college freshmen change over time.

The news about this year's national freshman class struck some as discouraging. Just as this fall's historic presidential race was coming to its crescendo, college freshmen declared an alarming lack of interest in politics. Nationally, the proportion of entering freshmen who reported that it was essential or very important to keep up to date with political affairs dropped to 28.1 percent, the lowest rate since the survey was established in 1966.

"If this fall's perplexing presidential race provided a lesson in politics, college freshmen may have slept through the class," said a January 26 story on the survey results in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Still more disturbing for those who follow trends in civic engagement, only 17.6 percent of college freshmen nationally considered influencing the political structure as an essential or very important goal. By contrast, 73.4 percent of college freshmen nationally indicated that "being very well off financially" was an essential or very important goal.

However, as Mahdi's profile suggests, the view from Oberlin is rather different.

At Oberlin, students in all classes show considerable interest in national politics. They participated in very large numbers in College events related to the presidential election, including Convocation Series lectures, election-night coverage itself, and formal and informal discussions of the controversial Florida vote count.

Furthermore, by a considerable majority, new students at Oberlin do not agree that it is essential or very important to be very well off financially. Compared with their peers nationally, Oberlin's new students were more than twice as likely to have discussed politics in the past year. Even compared with new students at other very highly selective colleges, new Oberlin students were substantially more likely in the past year to have discussed religion, to have visited an art gallery or museum, and to have participated in "organized demonstrations."

In the aggregate, new Oberlin students consistently indicate a stronger affinity for traditional liberal positions than do their peers at other highly selective colleges. Opinions were sought on issues including the abolition of the death penalty, the continued legality of abortion, the support of affirmative action, the legalization of marijuana, the obligation of the wealthy to pay higher taxes, and the right of same-sex couples to marriage.

As the index of student political engagement continues to go down nationally, new Oberlin students have remained remarkably steady over several years in their reported commitment to social causes and to the importance of making a difference in their communities. Their choice of probable majors and careers reflects a strong commitment to artistic excellence and to the pursuit of knowledge. Again compared with their peers at very highly selective colleges and universities, new Oberlin students are more likely to indicate interest in careers in the arts, teaching, and writing.

In a word, the freshman survey provides ample evidence that Oberlin students remain committed to leading meaningful lives, as they have for 168 years.

Peter Goldsmith is dean of students.