IS MARLBOROUGH TOO BLUE?
Located in the heart of the biggest city in California, the Marlborough community tends to mirror the political trends of the state of California, according to data from an anonymous survey sent to the student body. 86% of the 52 respondents view Marlborough students as progressive leaning, a number significantly above the statewide average. While some survey respondents felt that this political inclination was a positive thing, others criticized a lack of diversity of political perspectives within the school.
“I think Marlborough tends to be a leftist echo chamber when it comes to discussing political topics,” an anonymous respondent said.
Other students said they believed that the Marlborough community should prioritize critical thinking and education about political stances, rather than accepting the beliefs of the majority.
“I think we blindly follow progressive ideals without working to understand their important critiques, which is not to say that being progressive is wrong, just that we need to have a more critically thinking mindset,” an anonymous student said.
While the majority of the student body identifies as left leaning, Torson believes that the significant cost of the school tuition can produce conflicting class interests.
“At a school like Marlborough, there’s often a tension between a student population that identifies as relatively liberal, but also a student population whose families are predominantly affluent,” Torson said. “This dynamic creates certain class interests that come out in ways you might not expect if you were looking at political leanings.”
While Marlborough has made efforts to increase political discourse through events such as Pushing Perspectives, according to the survey, 50% of respondents reported that they would feel uncomfortable expressing a different political opinion than the majority of their peers. Some students referenced feelings of concern about being “outcasted” or “attacked” if they were to express political beliefs that differed from their peers.
“I have seen people be socially exiled for expressing a political opinion that is not widely shared at Marlborough,” a survey respondent said.
Some members of the community have said they believe discussions about political opinions can become heated and devolve in arguments over personal character.
“People can express a political view as a way of expressing their identity,” Torson said.
As regional political divisions in America deepen, with nine out of the 10 most Democratic states in America being coastal states according to World Population Review, 59% of survey respondents reported that regional politics would be a factor in their decision to attend college or live in another state after graduation.
“I think I would feel very isolated in a Republican state compared to my experience in Los Angeles,” Libby P. ’25 said.
While some students view the general political leaning of a state as a possible deciding factor in their decision to live there, others reference specific policies, such as reproductive freedom, as their main concern.
“The fact of the state being red or blue is somewhat irrelevant,” an anonymous student said. “My opinion is based more on the legal practices of the state.”
Similarly to the backlash California politicians, specifically Kamala Harris, have received as a result of the national perception of the state’s politics, when asked how they believed California and Los Angeles were perceived politically by the rest of America, students referenced extremist views such as California being full of “blue haired liberals” or “leftists.” Some students said they believe Californians’ perception of other states can be as extreme as the national political idea of California.
“Many people view California the same way that I (or we) view Texas,” an anonymous student said. “There is no way that I would move there because I know that my political views would differ from the people there so greatly.”