A study of freshmen entering college showed that the class entering college in 2011 is more liberal on a number of social issues.
The survey of “The American Freshman,” done by U. California, Los Angeles, asked more than 200,000 freshmen questions pertaining to their education, political opinions and career goals.
The most notable shift is that political and social opinions tend to be moving toward the left. Even though the numbers of students claiming to be conservative or liberal — 20.7 percent and 27.6 percent respectively — remained about the same, issue-based opinions fluctuated.
Overall, support for same-sex marriage, abortion and marijuana legalization has increased since last year’s study. Notably, 71 percent of college freshmen were in support of gay marriage.
Given the sway youth had in the 2008 presidential election, America’s college students are a political force not to be ignored .
Last semester, Michael Wagner, a U. Nebraska-Lincoln professor of political science, conducted a similar study measuring the opinions of the UNL student body.
Unlike the national poll, there is less of a political middle ground at UNL. In the Big Red Poll, 37 percent of UNL students claimed to be liberal, while 36 percent of students identify as conservative.
“People may just be starting to pay attention during Occupy Wall Street or the presidential campaign.” Wagner said. Wagner believes that the unique socio-political environment may have caused the spike in liberality. In his survey, Wagner also gauged support of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Those who supported it fell left-of-center on the political spectrum.
Wagner said he believes the impact of social media may have also caused this spike. With an increased flow of ideas, Wagner said, people tend to be more open to new ones.
“You have people who are away from their parents for the first time, so it makes sense,” Wagner said.
The shifting opinions are building up the hopes of people working for those within the gay community as well. Ashley Moffat, president of the UNL Queer Ally Coalition and a junior psychology major, is excited to see attitudes change.
“I know that there is a very strong progressive base,” Moffat said. Even though UNL is more politically polarized, Moffat said she’s had a relatively easy time promoting activities from the QAC.
“Our campus is very progressive,” Moffat said. She explained how the university is very supportive of the QAC and the LGBTQA Resource Center. Moffat believes there is a clear trend of acceptance nationally and on campus. This is reinforced by a May 2011 Gallup poll which has 53 percent of people polled supporting gay marriage. This is the first time this opinion has been in the majority.
“I think gay rights is one of those issues that doesn’t change that much,” Moffat said.
The fact that it deals with people, not policy, has Moffat hopeful for the future.
Alec Kaus, a freshman political science and art major, is a member of UNL Young Democrats. He believes this is a social shift toward liberal norms. “We progress, and things seem to right themselves,” Kaus said.
The survey also asked a number of questions pertaining to students’ futures. When asked about employment, a solid 2 percent chose “unemployed.”
“Well, you have to account for smart-ass,” Wagner said.