In the corridors of South Hall, many doors are covered in anti-war stickers and flyers advertising protests and marches taking place across Massachusetts over the next few weeks. Given the common characterization of Tufts as a "liberal" university, it may not be surprising that students' door decor reflects ardent anti-war sentiment.
Another stream of sentiment exists on campus, however, and it belongs to those members of the Tufts community who are connected to the military, either because of their own service or through family and loved ones serving in Iraq.
Senior Peter Downes is a member of the military population at Tufts. The Maryland native is a midshipman in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Since Tufts has not had an ROTC program on campus since the Vietnam War, ROTC students at Tufts travel to MIT's campus for the program.
"Most people who join [ROTC] do it for about 90 percent financial reasons and ten percent other reasons - other being, I want to serve my country, I want a job after college, my family is military, and so on," Downes said. "But by the time you're a senior, [the reasons] are totally reversed: it's ten percent for the money, 90 percent for other reasons. I have very strong convictions when it comes to our country."
He is quick to add, however, that "by no means should you read into that that I'm a huge Republican or something. And I don't have an American flag tattoo."
"Some people just automatically assume I'm Republican," said Downes, regarding students' reactions on campus. "I can't tell you how many times people say, 'Oh, well, you're military, so you must be Republican.' It's actually rather frustrating sometimes."
ROTC participants like Downes observe that it is often uncomfortable for students who are training for the military to live and study on a campus where most people haven't interacted with members of the armed forces.
"I've had some people kind of look at me weird or sort of roll their eyes, but because New England in general has very few military bases and influence, most people at Tufts haven't really encountered many people in uniform before," Downes said. "So when I'm in uniform on campus, I get lots of looks."
Senior Leslie Stevens, whose boyfriend is currently serving in Afghanistan, said that Tufts students often don't understand the complexity of being involved in the military. "Usually people are just so surprised when they find out that he is [21] and has been in the Army since he was 18," she said. "Peers of mine find it hard to believe that someone our age is out overseas doing things that we might feel we could never do."
Junior and midshipman Matt Colehour feels atypical walking around campus in uniform. "People see the uniform and want to know about it, and you do get looks walking around campus from certain groups," he said. "You know that people are always looking at you when you're in uniform."
Student reaction, however, is very rarely disrespectful. According to Stevens, while the majority of people at Tufts may disagree with the way the government is handling the war, most seem to be less quick to judge when the stories become more personal and tangible.
"I introduced [my boyfriend] to so many of my friends - mostly liberal, mostly against the war, but all seemed completely intrigued by him and in some way admire him," Stevens said.
Freshman Korin Hasegawa-John, an Army ROTC cadet, agreed. "When I'm in uniform, I tend to get a lot of questions about ROTC and funny looks," he said. "I think it's mostly curiosity, since here at Tufts we don't have our own ROTC program and rarely see people in uniform on campus."
But while the reaction is rarely overtly negative, when it comes to the military, some Tufts students can be na??¶? and apt to make generalizations. "A lot of the international relations kids love to hear my views on foreign policy, and for some reason the fact that I'm in the Navy becomes my defining characteristic," Downes said. "But I've never really had any overt insults or stuff like that."
"I have gotten bad reactions from some friends when I told them I was in the Persian Gulf two summers ago, especially some Arab friends in classes and stuff, but I normally tend to leave that out of most conversations," he added.
According to Colehour, the roles of student and cadet or midshipman need to be two separate entities. "I have been asked [my opinions on Iraq], but anytime we are in uniform we don't really express our opinions, such as whether we do or don't agree with President Bush or whether we do or don't agree with the war in Iraq," Colehour said. "It's kind of two different personas when we have the uniform on, and when we don't have the uniform on," he added. "There are plenty of people who are in Iraq right now who don't agree with what's going on over there, but it's their job."
Students are not the only ones curious about students in uniform. "Sometimes my teachers will want to know my opinion [as a representative for the military]," Downes said. "Those are always hard because it's hard to answer for a huge organization, and sometimes I'm not really sure what the exact policy is, so I tend to shy away from those questions."
In a study released in 2003 by Daniel Klein of Santa Clara University, researchers reported that "many college campuses house a liberal bias among the faculty." Klein found this to be especially true in the social sciences and humanities, and the political science field displayed an approximate 13:1 Democrat to Republican professor ratio. The study reported a 15:1 overall average.
According to Colehour, "we have not gotten as much [opposition] from students as from administration and professors."
"Some of the faculty are really against us," Downes agreed. He added, however, that "some of the faculty are also very supportive."
-- Emily Neger contributed to this article.
