Editor's note: Certain students become associated with the causes they espouse. Peter Brush '03 is a vocal conservative who often sounds in from the political right at meetings, in class and on student activist listserve. He took a few minutes to chat with Colby about his role and life on campus.

What are your official capacities here?
I'm the dorm president of Dana. I'm the student chair of the Cultural Events Committee. I'm the vice president of the Colby Republicans. I think those are my official capacities.

You've brought some controversial speakers to campus.
To say the least.

Is that your role in the committee?
No, I just happen to be on that committee. For a while I was complaining, "All these speakers here, I don't really agree with them." And so I'd complain and they'd say, "Why don't you do something about it?" I went back and found a foundation that you can bring speakers through. That was last year. I came in with Dinesh D'Souza.

That caused a stir?
Yes, that was interesting. I was expecting two hundred people to show up at most . . . I think we estimated about seven-hundred fifty people were there. I didn't anticipate the protests or the shenanigans that went on but that just made it more entertaining to me. A lot of people were upset about it but I don't mind. It just made their point that much weaker.

How important do you think it is to have people speak here who have what might be a different viewpoint?
It's extremely important. The idea right now is everyone's liberal by default. You come in here, that's all you hear. Unless you hear the other side there's very little option here. It seems to me that you're a better person, whether you're a liberal or a conservative, if you've heard the other viewpoint and can articulate arguments against it.

How are you received now that you have this notoriety here?
Everyone knows my name. At the beginning of the year, I would meet these freshmen. They're like, "Oh, so you're the Republican." I don't mind. If it's a stigma, I can handle it.

Is there really a stigma attached to being a Republican?
Yes, it's definitely a negative here. Suck it up. Deal with it. A lot of people out there do hold certain views and have kind of like confided in me these things. They don't want to say it to their friends. A lot of them feel that by expressing conservative views, they'll piss people off. Sometimes it would but I really enjoy those late-night conversations down the hall with people. That's what college is about. It's about articulating opinions and articulating arguments.

Have your views evolved since you've been here?
Oh, yeah. I actually didn't know I was a Republican until I got here. I was kind of anti-nonsense, which I consider a lot of the other stuff to be.

How are your views received by the faculty?
That's entertaining, actually. I'm in a class right now about gender and economics and stuff. I can just tell that every issue that comes up, it's "Oh, Peter. You're going to be wrong again." But actually most of the faculty are very supportive of students articulating their views, as much as they would prefer that they agree with what they say, but I find the faculty to be very encouraging. I actually have found that there are conservative faculty out there, contrary to popular belief.

Is this a liberal campus?
The vocal majority is definitely very, very left. . . . If you don't agree with them, you're wrong. You don't understand. It's some sort of white privilege or something privilege. I'd say the campus overall is probably slightly left of center but everyone who talks is much farther left.

Do you think there's a place for conservative students at Colby?
The good thing is if the person likes to talk a lot. I know in my English class freshman year I was one of three conservative students and the only conservative student who was actually willing to speak up. I feel I should be able to talk more if there's two viewpoints and there's twelve people in the class supporting one and one supporting the other. If you like to talk, come to Colby.

What do you do in the summer?
It depends on the summer. Last year I interned at American Express Financial Advisors. The summer before that I interned at GE Capital in Stamford, Connecticut. The eight years prior to that I was a caddy at Wingfoot Golf Club. It's good money. You get a hundred bucks, two bags for a loop. When I'm cash poor, off to the golf course.

Is that where you grew up?
I grew up in Larchmont, New York , which is just a town over from Mamaroneck, which is where Wingfoot is.

Were you a country club rat?
No, not at all. See that's the problem. Everyone thinks Republicans are these pretentious snobs. . . . There were kids who played golf and kids who caddied. I was the caddy. I carried the clubs of those kids sometimes.

Are you happy with your experience here at Colby?
Oh, yeah. I think one of the greatest things about Colby--I have this argument with my friend, actually. He goes to Harvard and says he likes bigger schools because you can kind of get lost. And the dating pool is bigger. There are definitely advantages to a bigger school but the thing I like about Colby is that you really can do pretty much whatever you want to do. The administration is great. The opportunities are there if you just want to go out and get them. The support is there if you actually want to go and make a difference. If you want to bring that speaker that no one else wants to see but you do, there might be a protest and six hundred people might show up. You never know.