Minority Voice

by Heidi Metcalf MPP 2002

Maybe you didn’t think there really were any Republicans at the Kennedy School. I am proof, we are here! Not only are we here, but we look different than you might imagine, and we have something that the school desperately needs — ideological diversity.

I came to the Kennedy School in search of tools to help me advocate for urban youth. I am passionate about the city from which I come, that city’s education system, and the economic disparity
between the city and the surrounding areas. I run a nonprofit that partners inner-city kids with local businesses. Before coming to the Kennedy School, I volunteered in a public housing project, a women’s prison, and an elementary school. And I am a Republican. I’ve worked for a Fortune “500” company, a conservative think tank, and a Republican governor.

I am a Republican because I believe in the limited role of government, but I do believe that government has a role to play. I believe individuals are responsible for their choices, and that good people make good government; not the other way around. I believe that the current dialogue around abortion is unsatisfactory, and
I think we should find a wise balance in being stewards of the environment while pursuing opportunity.

By now you are probably thinking that I don’t sound like a Republican. Many of my colleagues at KSG who are Democrats seem to believe that Republicans all look alike — white, wealthy, conservative males. Some members of the KSG Republican Caucus are very conservative, some are libertarians, many are moderates, and others are social liberals. All are committed to public service and represent opinions held by 48 percent of the American public. Although it is easier to vilify us if we are caricatured, the stereotypes are not accurate or productive.

About 5 percent of the KSG student body belong to the Republican Caucus. While I think there are many closet conservatives at the school (some masquerading as Democrats), few speak up in my classes. I was one of two Republicans in my MPP1 cohort this year. In our philosophy of ethics class, only 6 out of 65 students believed abortion was morally wrong — regardless of women’s choice. The students in my urban poverty class were often hostile and at best, close minded, towards innovative ideas to make inner cities more competitive. It is difficult for one person to substantively challenge the ideological entrenchment of 70 others. The near absence of ideological diversity in the classroom is damaging intellectually and pragmatically to all of the students. Presuppositions should be challenged in graduate school, and this experience should prepare conservatives and liberals to think critically, creatively, and collaboratively as public servants. AIDS in Africa is not a conservative or a liberal issue; it is a virus killing millions of people and demands a comprehensive, human response.

On election night, all 40 of us Republicans watched the election returns in a room off of the Forum, where an increasingly agitated crowd of Democrats gathered to see the projections. This was the only time during the year that the environment at KSG toward Republicans was truly hostile. For the most part, my classmates are curious to find out why I am a Republican, and several have gone out of their way to have that conversation.

The administration recognizes the importance of increasing the number of conservative applicants to KSG. The Republicans do not advocate ideological affirmative action policies, but we do believe that ideological diversity strengthens the academic experience and ultimately the quality of public servants that graduate from the school.

Republicans interested in public service may self-select into business schools or law schools where there are critical masses of people who think like they do. It is the responsibility of a school of public service to attract the best and the brightest of all ideologies in order to produce new ideas and solutions. This is innovation in government — bringing together diverse people who learn, listen, and disagree, but are committed to trying new solutions to solve problems.

Prospective Republican students meet unlimited opportunity at the Kennedy School. A degree from KSG is not only impressive even to conservatives, but it also affords access to world leaders, faculty resources, and the administration. From my perspective, there is no better place to confirm your own conservative ideology while learning the truths and fallacies of the “opposition”. May we who aspire to be agents of change see poverty, disease, and despair as the enemy, not one another.