Studies link college education to tolerance

    On Monday nights, senior Keith Hofmann attends enlightening lectures, studies the Quran and learns about Islamic tradition with the Muslim Students Association. However, many are unaware that he came from a conservative Catholic high school before he attended Tufts.
    Hofmann attributes his change from Catholic to Muslim faith activities to his experience at Tufts, citing the student body as a strong influence.
    "There is a more diverse population at Tufts," Hofmann said. "When you're exposed, you inevitably become more tolerant."
    Hofmann represents the view of many other students — from not just Tufts, but other colleges around the United States.
    A recent study conducted by Professor Seth Ovadia of Bowdoin College and Professor Laura Moore of Hood College found that people with college degrees and those living in college communities tend to be more tolerant towards political views and diversity in areas of race, religion and sexual identity.
    They also discovered that most evangelical Protestants who are tolerant towards atheists and homosexuals have college degrees.
    Other published research has also yielded similar results. James Q. Wilson, in his textbook "American Government," concluded that attending college has a "big impact on [people's] political attitudes" and that it proved especially true for students "who attended the most prestigious colleges."
    Similarly, many Tufts students, particularly upperclassmen, exhibit the same trend — attributing much of their changing mindset to exposure to different groups.
    "I have absolutely become more tolerant in every way, [and] everyone I know has become more tolerant too," senior Nick Lamm said. "[College] forces you to confront other social groups that you haven't confronted before."
    International students, however, may express different viewpoints on Tufts' level of exposure to diversity. Freshman Charmaine Poh came to Tufts after previously living in Singapore. Having experienced exposure to other cultures before, she found that coming to Tufts was less of a leap.
    "I'm already a [minority], being international — and it's not really a problem," Poh said. "But Tufts is doing [a] solid job in making people more tolerant."
    The already-open mindset of Tufts students may also help to make incoming international freshmen more comfortable in their new environment. Junior Ashley Asiedu-Frimpong, who is from Ghana, recalled that she was one of them.
    "People were tolerant of my views when I arrived," Asiedu-Frimpong said. "They were more excited about my differences than taken aback by it."
    Dr. Margery Davies, director of the Office of Diversity Education and Development, believes that the admissions process is the key aspect that creates the diverse atmosphere of students from radically different backgrounds.
    "By having such a diverse student body, Tufts is then able to provide an extremely rich social and educational setting for people to learn about their fellow and sister students' diverse experiences, beliefs and approaches to life," Davies said. "And it is this rich setting that makes such an excellent foundation for the development of critical thinking and the ability to understand diverse points of view, which can be such a hallmark of an excellent higher education."
    The office, created in 1998, collaborates with students and faculty to establish and develop activities, workshops, projects and consultations related to diversity issues.
    According to Davies, the goal of these endeavors is to foster critical thinking among students.
    "[It] encourages them to think about many parts of their lives — not just the academic parts — from different points of view and encourages them to learn from others as a way of understanding a wide variety of approaches and beliefs," Davies said.
    Asiedu-Frimpong noticed differences between those who were college-educated and those who were not in her home town.
    She said that her college-educated parents are less likely to be afraid of radical views, whereas those who are less educated may be wary of diversity and change.
    In contrast, freshman Long Pan, whose parents did not attend college, feels that they are more conservative as a result.
    "They [want] me to stick to Chinese people when I'm in college," Pan said.
    Although the education from both the Tufts curriculum and the Office of Diversity may play large roles in shaping students' mindsets, many students still believe that their social networks have affected them the most.
    Asiedu-Frimpong said that her classes had nothing to do with making her, or others, more tolerant to diversity or race. "It's more the social scene," she said.
    Hofmann echoed a similar sentiment. "I don't think education has much to do with it," he said.