Politics
The majority of the Class of 2023 reported becoming more liberal throughout their time at Vanderbilt, and the majority reported voting. With 87% of the class casting their ballot, they beat the national average of only 27% of 18-29 year olds voting.
Maddie Amberg (’23), an March for Our Lives Nashville organizer, said she appreciated the “sense of community” among Vanderbilt students and alumni when it came to organizing around political causes.
“After the tragedies at Uvalde and Covenant, I was able to work alongside other activists at Vanderbilt to help inspire change on a national level — something that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the support of Vanderbilt’s community,” Amberg said.
Race-based affirmative action — a process that was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in June — was more contested. Only 11% of survey respondents strongly agreed with this practice. Prior to the Supreme Court decision, Vanderbilt “considered” race in its admissions process. Over two thirds of students supported abortion being legal in all or most cases, access to gender-affirming care for minors and stricter gun control.
Sorting data by gender showed that 79% of women strongly support stricter gun control, as opposed to only 50% of men. Similar trends can be seen with strong support for legal abortion, with 70% of women strongly supporting it, as opposed to 50% of men. All nonbinary respondents strongly supported gun control and legal abortion.
