If you read College Insurrection, you’re familiar with the challenges conservative college students face on a regular basis. In a new post at Conservative Intelligence Briefing, writer J. Cal Davenport offers some words of advice.

A young conservative’s college survival guide

In my opinion, the true problem is not the crazy radicals, but the positioning of mainstream liberalism as the default – the premise on which most of the education is based. Concepts such as equality, capitalism, race, freedom and others are understood by their modern liberal definitions, and only the most professional professors recognize the conservative conception of such issues as anything other than a caricature.

Although often misrepresented, conservatives are tolerated – not just because it makes liberals feel noble, but also because professors of political science want to be objective about their own subject.

And inexperienced students follow suit by acting as though they are above partisanship. The pressure from peers is be “independent,” which leads in fact to the majority of students “independently” coming to agree with each other in favor of liberalism.

It has always stood out to me that more often than not it is professors outside political science who do the most to advance the cause of leftism in the classroom. English professors don’t have to worry about objectivity in politics, because it isn’t their field. Certain subfields of the social sciences are also vulnerable to the fringes.

What can a conservative do to keep from sliding into the default campus position of liberalism? First, recognize the biased premises of the concepts being discussed. Familiarize yourself with the buzzwords and understand where you are being sold on myths and clichés.

Second, seek out other conservatives. Not to wall yourself off from intellectual diversity – which is impossible at any rate — but because this will be your only sources of intellectual diversity on campus. It’s good to know that not everyone is a liberal drone.

Third, find intelligent, reputable conservative sources of news and opinion to constantly balance the leftist barrage.