Like most colleges, Davidson prides itself on its diversity. Well, one aspect of that seems to be its “diverse” reactions to well-known speakers who come to campus. As Davidson student (and until recently, the chairman of its College Republicans chapter) Austin Gray observes in this piece he wrote for the school paper, when the speaker is a famed liberal, the school rolls out the red carpet and makes a big production of it, but when the speaker is a conservative, the response is very muted.

The two speakers in question were Justice Sonia Sotomayor and former presidential adviser Karl Rove. The former was, appropriately, greeted with fanfare and all were encouraged to attend her talk. The latter was barely acknowledged and you get the feeling that the administration was embarrassed at having him set foot on campus.

At least there doesn’t seem to have been a movement to disinvite Rove. Perhaps there would have been if his presentation had been publicized.