By Meaghan Healy
English and Communications Junior at Boston College
Imagine a college where protests break out on the quad as often as the on-campus wind turbine produces electricity. At each of these schools, open-minded students feel at home in the company of peers who aren't afraid to voice their opinions. They care about the environment, LGBT equality, vegan-friendly dining, sustainable practices, gender-neutral dorms, access to sexual health resources and transparent administrations. In turn, these universities have shown their support.
10. Brandeis University
Flickr: dhilowitz
The facilities at Brandeis University create the ideal "go green" environment. Check out the water runoff-reducing pavement, solar panels, solar trash compactors and rooftop garden on the Mandel Center, one of the most environmentally friendly university buildings in the world. Brandeis' liberal reputation continues with its active GLBTQA student group, Triskelion. The group branches off into TransBrandeis (transgender issues), Sex and Sexualities Symposium, Shalem (LGBT Jewish students) and Queer People of Color Coalition. Each group runs discussions and events and serves as a resource for students of all genders and sexualities. Student Peter Murray commended the school's openmindedness; Brandeis is a campus in which different races, orientations and religions come together to embrace individuality, he explained.
9. University of California - Berkeley
Flickr: judy19740108
The LGBT community and health services join forces at UC Berkeley. The Trans Care Team, consisting of experts in transgender health, offers special medical and mental health services for transgender students, including a student health plan that covers gender accuracy procedures. For more support and sense of community, check out T-Cal, a group focusing on gender expression issues. For all of the LGBT community, the health center offers free sessions with health coaches to assist in the process of coming out as well as free and confidential HIV tests. If you eat vegetarian or vegan, Berkeley's dining halls offer extensive options for those lifestyles. Feel free to mix it up once in a while with several surrounding vegan and vegetarian restaurants. This includes the Berkeley Student Food Collective, focused on providing sustainable and affordable food in the form of delicious grab-and-go sandwiches, soups and more.
8. New York University
Flickr: wallyg
Does your school host an annual drag competition and The Real Queer Film Series? That's what we thought. NYU also takes the cake when it comes to protests. Get fired up about any and every injustice right on campus; past protests have tackled financial negotiations with the school, the university's sale of sweatshop goods and the removal of Chick-fil-A on campus.
When asked about the liberalness of NYU, student Talya Fischbach thought the Facebook page NYU Secrets displayed it best. "It's really the biggest open forum that over 20,000 people follow, so we can really express our views and have open discussions about what is posted," she said.
7. Smith College
Flickr: maskology
Smith prides itself on its widespread eco-friendliness. Purchase policies include recycled paper and toilet paper and removing non-reusable water bottles from dining halls. Although student commuters do not account for transportation impacts, Smith has taken measures to help employees reduce their transportation, such as establishing carpool programs and paying them not to drive. The college also cooperates with a local farm to compost dining hall food waste and encourages its students to reduce electricity use. You may enter college as an energy waster, but if you go to Smith, you'll leave as green as the Hulk.
6. Oberlin College
Flickr: brianzimmerman
Oberlin can be found at the top of just about every liberal-related ranking out there, from Popular Mechanics' most eco-friendly colleges to Campus Pride's most LGBT-friendly colleges. If those rankings don't say enough about Oberlin's openness, student voices make up for it. Oberlin students participated in several different protests in the past few years, fighting bigotry and the college's "no trespass" list (which blocked students from certain parts of campus unbeknowst to them). The college also offers sexual health resources such as HIV and STI tests and emergency contraception.
Go to CollegeMagazine.com to get the full list.