Campus conservatism has a real champion, who hails from one of the most progressive schools in America.

Jonathon Imber, a professor of sociology at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, recently gave a fascinating address “On Teaching Conservatism” about to a group at a Georgia institution. It offers a ray of hope to those who despair of what is happening on today’s campuses.

A guest speaker told an audience at Kennesaw State University last week about his dedication to demand respect for conservative ideals in the academic community.

Jonathon Imber, a professor of sociology at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, gave a keynote address last Tuesday “On Teaching Conservatism,” about a class he has offered for a decade.

Imber, who since 1998 has been the editor-in-chief of “Society,” a scientific journal publishing research on social science and public policy, said it can take an hour to explain the difference between him being conservative and not a conservative.

“Identity politics” are an oversimplification, Imber told the crowd, and it is biased to assume to know a person’s political views because of one label.

Just because someone might identify as a conservative, it is impossible to know their stance on abortion or welfare, or even if they have a finite opinion, Imber said.

Years of studying sociology has shown Imber that the ambition to get ahead requires conformity, he said.

But, Imber has a history of going against the grain, including his push to teach a course on conservatism in an effort to have conservatives taken more seriously, especially in the liberal hotbed of New England.

While Imber said his views were never shouted down, he was shunned for being a lone voice, or self-described activist, for expressing conservative ideals.

When asked by an anonymous student at the forum what a “closeted conservative should do on a liberal campus,” Imber said, “Come out.”