I worked for both Smith and Mount Holyoke. I found the kids at both schools to be very smart, and generally fun to be around. The MH girls were more serious. I never stopped laughing when I was around the Smithies.
Then I dealt with their “riding teams.” Holy crap. They were still good kids…but the old money just dripped off those girls. It was a peak into a world you usually only see in glossy magazines.
Yes, the social justice stuff is strong in those schools. But they are mostly good, smart kids in a pressure cooker of an environment. 80% of them would fit into any college, anywhere or anytime.
I am an alum of MHC. Back in the 70’s, the concept of free speech was becoming more limited with each year. Conservatives (probably one-in-four) were tolerated. I can see how they now are shunned. Progressive recruitment wasn’t a choice—it was becoming the only road taken. The drinking was no big deal (as it is at most colleges) and the smell of pot was heavy in every dorm. In fact, the Simpsons did a show on the Seven Sisters and Smith was noted for its lesbianism and MHC for its booze. The real recruitment I see there now is for homosexuality and transgenderism. They get a lot of smart girls with limited experience with men and dating, so being drawn toward a women’s college seems like a natural progression in the lesbian end-game.