History Main / StrawmanU

* In John Singleton’s college drama ''HigherLearning'', Columbus University is obviously supposed to be a stand-in for one of the University of California campuses — but the faculty, as represented by Professor Phipps, are actually quite reasonable folks who aren’t angry at the world. A disproportionate number of the students, however, appear to be unhinged militants in full-blown Berserkeley mode, screaming everything from “White power!” (yes, even the neo-Nazis come off as lefties in this movie) to “Dead men don’t rape!” and calling the school’s namesake “nothing but a thief and a murderer.” Even the ‘good guys’ are misguided: one student, dismayed at the gang violence, organizes a school-wide “Peace Fest.” It doesn’t end well.

* Faber College from ''National Lampoon’s Film/AnimalHouse'' is a Jim Jonestown University. Politics don’t come into play, thank God, but it’s definitely a stuffy and stodgy place without Delta House’s WackyFratboyHijinx. (Toward the end of the movie, the Deltas also go on a road trip and pick up some women at a ‘socially activist’ women’s college that is hinted at being a 1950s/early ’60s version of Berserkeley. The movie takes place in 1962, two years before the free-speech movement, when Berserkeley was still an UnbuiltTrope.)

* Religious schools that primarily turn out pastors and missionaries (Bob Jones, Regent, Liberty, Oral Roberts, [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} Brigham Young]], etc.).

* Mexico has the Pan-American University, where law students are never once taught about divorce procedure, you're required to show up to your exams wearing a three-piece suit, you must always behave like a distinguished member of the elite in and outside of campus, you must always go to church every single Sunday and confess yourself regularly. They view Jesuit colleges are full of unruly potheads.

** All of these schools (except BYU) are rather infamous for their morality codes which threaten summary expulsion for heinous acts like fraternizing with the opposite sex, dressing in immodest clothing, drinking alcohol, listening to contemporary music or getting a unconventional haircut. BYU has a morality code, but it's more concerned with things that go against Mormon beliefs, mainly alcohol, tobacco, and especially sex outside marriage. As for the other schools mentioned, Regent tends to be a tiny bit more laid-back than the others, mostly because a large proportion of the school is graduate students.

** All of these schools (except BYU) are rather infamous for their morality codes which threaten summary expulsion for heinous acts like fraternizing with the opposite sex, dressing in immodest clothing, drinking alcohol, listening to contemporary music or getting a unconventional haircut.

** All of these schools (except BYU) are rather infamous for their morality codes which threaten summary expulsion for heinous acts including fraternizing with the opposite sex, dressing in sexy clothing, drinking alcohol, listening to contemporary music or getting a unconventional haircut.

->''"[The stereotype is] that people here just smoke pot and talk about Buddhism, but [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne I'm pretty positive I haven't had one conversation about Buddhism]]."''
-->--'''''The Insider's Guide to the Colleges''''' regarding the Evergreen State College

"Berserkeley" is filled with {{Granola Girl}}s, rude skaterpunks, [[DirtyCommunists angry socialists/communists/anarchists/your choice of far-left political radicalist screaming about how Amerikkka is pure evil and that we deserve to die in a ditch]], [[MalcolmXerox pissed-off black nationalists]] and [[EverythingIsRacist militant minorities who really hate white students]], [[StrawFeminist angry radical feminists who see sexism everywhere]], irritating, pretentious, elitist {{hipster}}s wearing idiotic fashions and making nonsensical, offensive pieces of "art" (read: trash) to complain about the mainstream, {{Hollywood Atheist}}s, and [[NewAgeRetroHippie aging hippies]]. The faculty will be all of the above - just with pieces of paper saying they're better educated.

Every third storefront is a coffee house with awful writers reading bad poetry and pretentious beatniks explaining how [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible true their incomprehensible art]] is. The city council is packed with people who pass truly absurd and paternalistic ordinances... after they finish decriminalizing weed.

* University of California, Berkeley, [[TropeNamer of course]]. Useful for radical left political flavoring.[[labelnote:Trivia]]Ironically, one of their alumni was right-wing Governor Pete Wilson.[[/labelnote]]
** Other [=UCs=] get this rap, especially UC-Santa Cruz, which belongs to an already infamous liberal town (the town denied permission to the Navy to operate there, forbade the police to press drug charges against marijuana smokers - especially if smoking in public, and has the largest 420 gathering in Northern California). Even the smaller [=UCs=] aren't immune, as UC-Irvine had an incident where the black students' club chained themselves together and marched into the student council meeting to protest a racist incident perpetrated by an Asian-American frat.
* Wellesley College -- This one is handy if [[StrawFeminist a feminist overtone]] is needed.
* UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan, Ann Arbor -- Great for pegging the character as an activist. Actually active, that is, rather than just slinging the activist lingo. [[AnimalWrongsGroup Good one for anti-animal testing shenanigans]].

* Reed College in Portland, Oregon -- they only tell students their grades if specifically asked to, the administration has an extremely lax drug-use policy even for hyper-liberal Portland, and about half of their traditions are weird hippie injokes [[note]]Which strangely has a nuclear research reactor on campus.[[/note]]
* The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington - does not assign grades to students at ''all'' in favor of "narrative evaluations" [[note]]Despite the flack about "no grades," they're actually like the performance evaluations one would get at an office job[[/note]], many of the courses offered are political in nature, and there are no "departments" like you'd see at other schools - all classes are a form of "integrated studies" which approach a single issue from several different academic angles, with freshmen and seniors often in the same class. Professors are addressed by first name most of the time. The school operates an organic farm and a non-profit vegetarian restaurant staffed and operated by unpaid volunteers who manage cooperatively. [[note]]Out of the 100+ clubs on campus, only about 5 are not related to any left-leaning agenda. These are the clubs dealing with anime, tabletop gaming, and live-action roleplaying. Geeks do well there.[[/note]]
* The University of Colorado at Boulder -- Much like UC Berkeley. A liberal college in a liberal enclave in a conservative(-ish, see TheSeveralStates) state, referred to as "9 square miles surrounded by reality". [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Churchill Ward Churchill]] (he of the infamous essay alleging that the 9/11 victims were "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Eichmanns little Eichmanns]]") was a professor here, and like UC-Santa Cruz, it has a large pothead population, and endorses a Halloween nudist run where revelers will wear nothing but jack o' lanterns on their heads, which annoys the local police to no end.
* Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos from Perú, The National University of Saint Mark

* Kent State University, Kent, Ohio -- Popular for anti-war-style liberals, thanks to the 1970 National Guard shooting that left 4 students dead.
* University of Wisconsin-Madison -- likewise a history of 1960's [[VietnamWar Vietnam-era]] activism, long called "Berkeley of the Midwest."
* Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, has a reputation for "progressive activism" where students were known to adorn the interior hallways with left-wing graffiti. Or, as Aileen [=LeBlanc=] of NPR's ''All Things Considered'' put it, "The college stands proudly as a progressive place, with a reputation of breeding beatnik, toxic, hippy, gay, New Age, vegan weirdoes." And she was being sympathetic. The college was closed from June, 2008 to October, 2011 for "restructuring."
* Although many (most?) religious colleges fit easily into the Jim Jonestown University mold described below, a few don't:

** Earlham College (Religious Society of Friends--i.e. the Quakers) in Richmond, Indiana, is so left-wing that everybody is addressed by their first name -- calling an instructor "Mister", "Ms.", "Professor" or "Doctor" So-And-So is definitely frowned upon. [[note]] This isn't a lefty thing, this is a Quaker thing: testimony of equality.[[/note]] Students are often at odds with the local and regional Yearly Meetings (the Quaker equivalent of a synod) over sexuality and drinking. (In case you're wondering, the Yearly Meetings are against both.)
* The University of the Philippines (or UP for short) in metropolitan Manila, Philippines has gained a reputation as a hotbed for activists and radicals spanning ''the entire political spectrum.'' Historically, it has been stereotyped as being both Communist and far-left, though with their ideological rivals very close behind.
* The University of Texas at Austin is noted for this, as Austin is very famously a weird and liberal place. It's somewhat unclear whether the university is weird because it's in Austin or the city is weird because UT is in it. Either way it often gets contrasted to Texas A&M.

Run by the harshest, most conservative DeanBitterman imaginable and his goons, bordering on [[BenitoMussolini fascism]]. The only things in town are a huge CorruptChurch and a Walmart, and the school itself is filled with {{Jerk Jock}}s, {{Corrupt Hick}}s more interested in lining their pockets, abusing their students, and drilling conservative values into them than teaching, {{Alpha Bitch}}es, [[RichBitch rich assholes who can't care less about education and bought their way in,]] [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalists]] who constantly [[HolierThanThou teach lies and intolerance in the classroom]] and will give the worst punishments to those who even think otherwise, and MoralGuardians blaming the downfall of America on the lack of Jesus and the presence of boobs on TV. The faculty and students will often be incredibly racist, sexist, and/or homophobic, and anyone who doesn't fit into the herd gets beaten down - literally, in some cases - or worse.

Anyone who has half a brain turns out to be either a StepfordSmiler, HolierThanThou, or AxCrazy. The city council, if it exists, will be packed with {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s and [[CorruptChurch oppressive, right-wing pastors]] who want to eject anyone who dares to be liberal. Being a historic university, its founding charter frequently comes with a long and detailed list of complex bylaws and regulations which just seem tailor-made for the Dean to abuse our plucky heroes.

** Worth noting though that PUCP has such ''politically'' left-wing tendencies that it's been disciplined and (allegedly) stripped of its titles by TheChurch. PUCP is [[MathematiciansAnswer both types of Strawman U at once!]]

* Texas A&M gets a big (not exactly unwarranted) reputation for this, especially compared to its more liberal and diverse neighbor/rival, University of Texas. Until 1960, it was closed to women and minorities (then again, "liberal" colleges such as Harvard were closed to women as well) and required all students to train as reserve officers in the Army (ROTC, basically). Even after the end of that requirement, A&M's Corps of Cadets is far larger than the average and A&M remains one of the most conservative schools in the country.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] an upcoming WiiU title about scarecrows.

* Faber College from ''National Lampoon's AnimalHouse'' is a Jim Jonestown University. Politics don't come into play, thank God, but it's definitely a stuffy and stodgy place without Delta House's WackyFratboyHijinx. (Toward the end of the movie, the Deltas also go on a road trip and pick up some women at a "socially activist" women's college that is hinted at being a 1950s/early '60s version of Berserkeley. The movie takes place in 1962, two years before the free-speech movement, when Berserkeley was still an UnbuiltTrope.)

* In John Singleton's college drama ''HigherLearning''. Columbus University is obviously supposed to be a stand-in for one of the University of California campuses -- but the faculty, as represented by Professor Phipps, are actually quite reasonable folks who aren't angry at the world. A disproportionate number of the students, however, appear to be unhinged militants in full-blown Berserkeley mode, screaming everything from "White power!" (yes, even the neo-Nazis come off as lefties in this movie) to "Dead men don't rape!" and calling the school's namesake "nothing but a thief and a murderer." Even the "good guys" are misguided: one student, dismayed at the gang violence, organizes a schoolwide "Peace Fest." It doesn't end well.

* The titular school in Creator/NealStephenson novel Literature/TheBigU manages to avoid either extreme version of Strawman U, but the SUB and the unionized professors would fit in well at a Berserkeley, and the administration and Temple of Unlimited Godhead (a fundamentalist Mormon offshoot) are close to a Jim Jonestown.

* Mentioned in an episode of ''DharmaAndGreg'' to show [[BourgeoisBohemian the grandparents']] personalities. The biological mother of the title couple's adopted son wants him back, and the grandparents (a pair of [=WASPs=] and a pair of hippies) have this discussion:
-->'''Kitty:''' We'll tie her up in court. By the time she gets Daniel back he'll be graduating from Stanford.

* In the early years of ''Doonesbury'', Walden College was a Berserkley variety

* If you think this is just a modern phenomenon, [[OlderThanFeudalism You're wrong]]. In {{Aristophanes}}' ''Theatre/TheClouds'', Creator/{{Socrates}} is running an ancient Greek Berserkeley and we see a debate with a strawman conservative from another school.
* Extreme Jim Jonestown example: The "University" in Sarah Kane's play ''Cleansed'' is really a concentration camp, run by the evil Tinker, where there are peepholes in the showers [[spoiler: that lead to Tinker's private viewing room, for his pleasure]], and students are tortured by Tinker and his goons.

* ''EchoBazaar'' has both - Benthic College is Berserkerly (to the point of having a few devils on its roster) while Summerset College is a Jim Jonestown University.

* This is a common joke about Universities in UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}: How many students does it take to change a lightbulb? The answer[[note]]Or at least a variation of it[[/note]]: Depends on the University:

--> Glasgow University - 96
-->One to change the light bulb, fifty to protest the light bulb's right not to change, twenty to hold a counter protest, and another twenty-five to produce a pamphlet saying that we would have solar-powered LED's that never need changing if it wasn't for big business and [[{{Eagleland}} US foreign policy.]][[note]]Mocking the tendency of Glasgow students, [[ViolentGlaswegian being Glasgow students]], to be extremely politicized and very left wing.[[/note]]

-->Strathclyde - 5
-->One to design a nuclear powered bulb that never needs changing, one to figure out how to power the rest of Scotland using that nuked light bulb, two to install it and one to write the computer programme that controls the switch.[[note]]Mocking/Complimenting the perceived extreme nerdiness and focus on sciences of Strathclyde (its basically Scotland's M.I.T - or at least it would like to think so!).[[/note]]

-->Caledonian - 7
--> One to change the light bulb and six to throw a party because he didn't screw it in upside down this time.[[note]]Mocking the pitifully low entrance requirements and generally poor academic reputation of Glasgow Cally.[[/note]]

-->Edinburgh - 1

-->St Andrews - 5
-->One to arrange the party, two to co-ordinate the press, one to call the electrician and one to get daddy to pay for it all.[[note]]Mocking the tendency of St Andrews students to be [[UpperClassTwit rich, spoiled and incompetent in matters unrelated to academia or self-publicity.]][[/note]]

-->Heriot Watt - 3

-->Only one, but he gets 10 course credits for it.[[note]]Mocking Napier's previous status as a polytechnic (basically a Community College for our transatlantic mates)[[/note]]

-->Dundee - 10
-->One to buy and fit the bulb and nine to petition for the electrification of Dundee.[[note]]Mocking Dundee's status as the WretchedHive of Scotland.[[/note]]

-->Aberdeen - 2;

-->Stirling - 0

* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Die Hippie, Die" features an invasion of hippies, the main group of which has a University of Berkeley bumper sticker. One of them continually called people "little Eichmanns," a reference to controversial (and discredited) professor Ward Churchill, who used the phrase to describe the American victims of 9/11.
** Side note: Ward Churchill was a professor at Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone's school - the University of Colorado at Boulder (another example of a Berserkley), though its unknown whether he actually taught them.
** Side note #2: During the Colorado - Nebraska football game in 2007[[note]]The two schools, until recently, played a nationally televised rivalry game every Black Friday.[[/note]], Eric Cartman introduced the Colorado starters. He takes a moment [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxIqJTqEaV4 after announcing the defensive secondary]] to take a shot at Boulder's hippie population.

** Earlham College (Religious Society of Friends--i.e. the Quakers) in Richmond, Indiana, is so left-wing that everybody is addressed by their first name -- calling an instructor "Mister", "Ms.", "Professor" or "Doctor" So-And-So is definitely frowned upon. [[note]] This isn't a lefty thing, this is a Quaker thing: testimony of equality.[[/note]]Students are often at odds with the local and regional Yearly Meetings (the Quaker equivalent of a synod) over sexuality and drinking. (In case you're wondering, the Yearly Meetings are against both.)

** Earlham College (Religious Society of Friends--i.e. the Quakers) in Richmond, Indiana, is so left-wing that everybody is addressed by their first name -- calling an instructor "Mister", "Ms.", "Professor" or "Doctor" So-And-So is definitely frowned upon. Students are often at odds with the local and regional Yearly Meetings (the Quaker equivalent of a synod) over sexuality and drinking. (In case you're wondering, the Yearly Meetings are against both.) [[note]] This isn't a lefty thing, this is a Quaker thing, and is common to many Friends groups. It is part of a testimony of equality.[[/note]]

** Earlham College (Religious Society of Friends--i.e. the Quakers) in Richmond, Indiana, is so left-wing that everybody is addressed by their first name -- calling an instructor "Mister", "Ms.", "Professor" or "Doctor" So-And-So is definitely frowned upon. Students are often at odds with the local and regional Yearly Meetings (the Quaker equivalent of a synod) over sexuality and drinking. (In case you're wondering, the Yearly Meetings are against both.)

** Earlham College (Quaker Church) in Richmond, Indiana, is so left-wing that everybody is addressed by their first name -- calling an instructor "Mister", "Ms.", "Professor" or "Doctor" So-And-So is definitely frowned upon. Students are often at odds with the local and regional Yearly Meetings (the Quaker equivalent of a synod) over sexuality and drinking. (In case you're wondering, the Yearly Meetings are against both.)

"Berserkeley" is filled with {{Granola Girl}}s, rude skaterpunks, [[DirtyCommunists angry socialists/communists/anarchists/your choice of far-left political radicalist screaming about how Amerikkka is pure evil and that we deserve to die in a ditch]], [[MalcolmXerox pissed-off black nationalists]] and [[EverythingIsRacist militant minorities]], [[StrawFeminist angry radical feminists]], irritating, pretentious, elitist {{hipster}}s wearing idiotic fashions and making nonsensical, offensive pieces of "art" (read: trash) to complain about the mainstream, {{Hollywood Atheist}}s, and [[NewAgeRetroHippie aging hippies]]. The faculty will be all of the above - just with pieces of paper saying they're better educated.

Run by the harshest, most conservative DeanBitterman imaginable and his goons, bordering on [[BenitoMussolini fascism]]. The only things in town are a huge church and a Walmart, and the school itself is filled with {{Jerk Jock}}s, {{Corrupt Hick}}s more interested in lining their pockets than teaching, {{Alpha Bitch}}es, [[RichBitch rich assholes who can't care less about education and bought their way in,]] [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalists]] who constantly [[HolierThanThou teach lies and intolerance in the classroom]], and MoralGuardians in training. The faculty and students will often be incredibly racist, sexist, and/or homophobic, and anyone who doesn't fit into the herd gets beaten down - literally, in some cases - or worse.

** All of these schools (except BYU) are rather infamous for their morality codes which threaten summary expulsion for heinous acts including who are found guilty of fraternizing with the opposite sex, dressing in sexy clothing, drinking alcohol, listening to contemporary music or getting a unconventional haircut.

* Religious schools that primarily turn out pastors and missionaries (Bob Jones, Regent, Liberty, [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} Brigham Young]], etc.).

* Mentioned in an episode of ''DharmaAndGreg'' to show [[BourgeoisBohemian the grandparents']] personalities. The biological mother of the title couple's adopted son wants him back, and the grandparents (a pair of WASPs and a pair of hippies) have this discussion:

* Mentioned in an episode of ''DharmaAndGreg'' to show the grandparents' personalities. The biological mother of the title couple's adopted son wants him back, and the grandparents (a pair of WASPs and a pair of hippies) have this discussion:

* The University of Colorado at Boulder -- Much like UC Berkeley. A liberal college in a liberal enclave in a conservative(-ish, see TheSeveralStates) state, referred to as "9 square miles surrounded by reality". [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Churchill Ward Churchill]] (he of the infamous essay alleging that the 9/11 victims were "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Eichmanns little Eichmanns]]") was a professor here.

"Berserkeley" is filled with {{Granola Girl}}s, rude skaterpunks, [[DirtyCommunists angry socialists/communists/anarchists/your choice of far-left political radicalist screaming about how Amerikkka is pure evil and that we deserve to die in a ditch]], [[MalcolmXerox pissed-off black nationalists]] and [[EverythingIsRacist militant minorities]], [[StrawFeminist angry radical feminists]], irritating, pretentious, elitist {{hipster}}s wearing idiotic fashions and making nonsensical, offensive pieces of "art" (read: trash) to complain about the mainstream, {{Hollywood Atheist}}s, and [[NewAgeRetroHippie aging hippies]].

Every third storefront is a coffee house with awful writers reading bad poetry and pretentious artists explaining how [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible true their incomprehensible art]] is. The city council is packed with people who pass truly absurd and paternalistic ordinances after they finish decriminalizing weed.

** Other [=UCs=] get this rap, especially UC-Santa Cruz, which belongs to an already infamous liberal town (the town denied permission to the Navy to operate there, forbade the police to press charges against marijuana smokers, and has the largest 420 gathering in Northern California).

Every third storefront is a coffee house with awful writers reading bad poetry and pretentious artists explaining how [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible true their incomprehensible art]] is. The city council is packed with people who pass truly absurd and paternalistic ordinances.

* This is a common joke about Universities in BonnieScotland: How many students does it take to change a lightbulb? The answer[[note]]Or at least a variation of it[[/note]]: Depends on the University:

* Texas A&M gets a big (not exactly unwarranted) reputation for this, especially compared to its more liberal and diverse neighbor/rival, University of Texas. Until 1960, it was closed to women and minorities and required all students to train as reserve officers in the Army (ROTC, basically). Even after the end of that requirement, A&M's Corps of Cadets is far larger than the average and A&M remains one of the most conservative schools in the country.

->''"[The stereotype is] that people here just smoke pot and talk about Buddhism, but I'm pretty positive I haven't had one conversation about Buddhism."''

* University of California, Berkeley, [[TropeNamer of course]]. Useful for radical left political flavoring.[[labelnote:Trivia]]Ironically, one of their alumni was future right-wing Governor Pete Wilson.[[/labelnote]]

* University of California, Berkeley, [[TropeNamer of course]]. Useful for radical left political flavoring.[[labelnote:Trivia]]Ironically, one of their alumni was right-winger and future Governor Pete Wilson.[[/labelnote]]

* University of California, Berkeley, [[TropeNamer of course]]. Useful for radical left political flavoring.