MIDDLE GROUND: LONG KNOWN FOR ITS WELCOMING NATURE, WARREN WILSON COLLEGE WANTS TO SHOW PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS ITS MORE THAN JUST A HIPPIE ENCLAVE IN THE MOUNTAINS.

• Author: Pressler, Alyssa

With a focus on sustainability, reputation as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly colleges in the state, and location about 10 miles east of eclectic Asheville, Warren Wilson College has established a reputation as a progressive institution.

So when Lynn Morton became the eighth president of the Swannanoa college last July, she made a bit of a splash by advocating passionately that the college should diversify political opinions on campus.

"I think every college campus is on edge," says Morton, the college's first female president. In today's political environment, few people with differing viewpoints can have a conversation without screaming at each other, she says. "It's unfortunate we all feel like we're walking on eggshells." She wants to create an atmosphere where students of all political persuasions and walks of life feel they can express their opinions but be challenged as well.

Colleges across the nation have been admonished by some for creating liberal bubbles and squashing conservative views. When Morton discussed her vision for the school--a diverse, intellectual hub of opinions--while interviewing for the job, the board of trustees saw it as a practical approach to an issue it has struggled with for some years: getting more students on campus. Declining enrollment is a problem at many small, private U.S. colleges, including several North Carolina campuses. Warren Wilson enrolls about 660 students, a third fewer than a decade ago.

"Her ideas on [diversity] are certainly in line with what many people on the board have felt for a long time: that we needed to broaden our appeal, because we're maybe not appealing to a broad enough segment," says William Christy, a Black Mountain lawyer who is chairman of the college's board of trustees.

"I think that she's been in some ways mischaracterized," Christy says. Rather than simply trying to get more conservative students on campus, her broader goal is to increase Warren Wilson's attractiveness to students across the political spectrum, from all over the world, and with various backgrounds and experiences.

For starters, Morton launched a program called "Deliberative Dialogues." On the first day of spring semester, around 325 students and faculty showed up to talk about free speech and inclusion. "It's a way of giving people a toolbox for how they can talk and think together when they disagree," she says. "I think Warren Wilson can be a leader in how to do this, because we're known for being...