By: Lila Anderson
Edited By: Edu Kenedi
We all know what this feels like: when we explain to our hometown friends the concept of SAIS, they say something to the effect of, “you must constantly be talking politics.” It’s hard to explain to them why in an American institution of higher education that focuses on issues that most Americans consider only through a political lens – so little political debate could be a part of students’ day to day.
In what was by no means a rigorous social science experiment to get to the reality of students’ closely held beliefs, I solicited the perceptions of my peers and professors on campus to share their opinions of SAIS as a political space.
Students tended to consider SAIS a generally moderate place. “I find it to be an interesting mix of politics,” said one student, who described the younger student population as more left than their older peers and increasingly moreso, with a marked shift amongst the MIPP program given the usually military or otherwise professional background. They described the faculty as center left, with “no particularly bombastic views” from professors who are “able to refrain from influencing class discussion.”
Most of my peers tend not to know many students who self-identify as right-wing. One student mused that Republicans must not feel comfortable speaking up, as they never heard a peer espouse right-wing beliefs in personal conversations or in class. Others disagreed. “I actually think there is such a broad range of opinions. You have students who come from all over the world, and what might be “Conservative” in the US looks very different than in other countries. I would say for the most part people seem to be in the center, maybe center-right overall.”
In contrast to their undergraduate institutions, there are no clubs and no healthy debate culture. Said one student, “My undergraduate university is considered one of the most politically active campuses in the US. So I was taught to view International Relations through a lens that is more progressive and activist oriented.” Said another: . I think the atmosphere of activism is extremely siloed. The clubs or organisations that do political events only really focus on their own subject areas (middle east or climate etc.). There are no clubs for the political parties.” One source pointed out that in elite undergrad programs, students often come from money, whereas SAIS is more socioeconomically diverse.
Some students described the activism culture at SAIS as practically “nonexistent” where their undergraduate institutions had been extremely active. For instance, one described a stark difference between their undergraduate institution’s care for the community and a lack of such care at SAIS. “Even if they care i dont that care goes into action.”
However, there was not a universal lack of activism. As one Bolognese said: “I did join a small handful of students to form a Coalition on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. But when we advocated for issues, like a diversified faculty with modern syllabi, we felt not only ignored, but actually ridiculed. I have multiple, specific memories of both students and administrators making fun of us.”
Others view as bad, with one student describing the culture that does as “toxic” and excessively shaped by social media. Or potentially harmful to the community: “Activism can be both disruptive and embarrassing, no one wants to have their potential cut short for being uncouth.”
Examples of what could be called more radical, headline-grabbing demonstrations of the kind that have grabbed headlines at liberal arts colleges are standalone events, are memorable as an anomaly SAIS. Last week, someone at Samantha Power’s speaking event stood up to confront Power about Gaza. According to community members who were at SAIS several years ago, one speaking event of Eliot Abrams was prevented from happening when students refused to silence themselves for Abrams to speak.
One student who studied undergrad at JHU pointed out that there, CIA director Michael Morrell was protested, while just on February 5, William Burns packed an auditorium and students shared his picture on their instagram stories.
Some speculated that this might be the case since it’s an IR school that is not devoted chiefly to domestic policy, while others questioned this logic, stating simply that a political issue like genocide “ is international.” A student added, “For example, when the war in Gaza broke out, it took lots of convincing for any kind of discussion to take place, and even then it was still limited in scope. Other universities hosted teach-ins, demonstrations, guest speakers, and more, while SAIS for the most part decided to stay silent. I think that speaks to a larger issue of the student body and institution taking a “no comment” approach to avoid controversy.”
Students cited the need for professionalism in a place where “everyone is a potential or future colleague” and the idea that it was too much of a risk. “Perhaps because it’s a graduate school, maybe people are more concerned about their professional career, and also, there’s more of an international focus, and I feel like at least at AU, the activism was more related to domestic policy issues.” Another student added, “the overall mentality of the campus is a hands-off approach rooted in avoidance and self protection.”
They talked about the new building and students’ lifestyles. “We don’t have a central place to convene in this campus, which contributes to the fact that it’s not as activist as you would expect for an International relations school,” said one student. “We aren’t like a very residential school. That prevents us from organizing [or] protest[ing].”
It appears that although SAIS is indeed an institution of higher education where student experience is close in some ways to undergraduate, the structures in place are such that students are discouraged from engaging in activism or political discourse more generally.