As the presidential election in November approaches, the Belmont Hill community will inevitably start having more and more discussions about the two candidates and their policy platforms. However, in the context of heated political discussion, Belmont Hill has one unique advantage that many other schools in Massachusetts do not have – increased diversity of political thought. This diversity allows for higher quality and more astute political conversations on campus, and it helps to avoid a stagnant monoculture of uniform political thought that fails to push students to think critically.
Despite the fact that Massachusetts is one of the most liberal states in the country, Belmont Hill stands out as a more moderate outlier. In a poll conducted by the Podium last spring, 40.7% of Belmont Hill students identified themselves as “left-of-center,” 28.7% as “moderate,” and 30.6% as “right-of-center.” This is more balanced ideologically compared to the distribution of political beliefs among Massachusetts adults, which tilts heavily in the liberal direction: 56% liberal, 17% moderate, and 27% conservative, according to a Pew Research poll. It should be noted that teenagers tend to be more liberal than adults, which indicates that if other high schoolers around Massachusetts were interviewed, the liberal tilt would be even more pronounced.
One potential way to explain Belmont Hill’s moderate bent could be the fact that it is an all-boys school. Young men have consistently been found to be more conservative than young women, and the gap between the genders has significantly grown from 2020 to now. A recent poll of the Harvard student body found that among male students, 32% identified as Democrats and 29% as Republicans. In contrast, 44% of female students identified as Democrats and 18% as Republicans. This is in line with what can be observed about Winsor, one of Belmont Hill’s sister schools, which has more of a liberal political identity. Angelina Fang ‘26 of Winsor stated, “[Our school] is generally seen as liberal, and the majority of our student body agrees with that as well.”
Regardless of the reasons behind this increased ideological diversity, Belmont Hill has a more even balance between liberal and conservative students than many other high schools in Massachusetts. This presents a unique advantage, as political viewpoint diversity allows conservative students to engage in open, unfiltered dialogue without the fear of being the minority voice, and it offers undecided students the opportunity to hear many different viewpoints rather than adopting a simplistic political monoculture due to its majority presence. When interviewed, many members of the BH community expressed their appreciation for the political diversity on campus. Logan Marra ‘26 stated, “I think the political diversity at Belmont Hill is good. We live in Massachusetts, which is more liberal, so BH being more conservative opens your eyes to different perspectives.” Jaiden Lee ‘26 agreed: “I think generally a healthy mix of opinions is always beneficial to environments like the Belmont Hill community, and it’s important to foster productive discussions.”
