Still Liberal After All These Years

The Class of 1965 is still liberal, and 25 years after graduation has settled into a comfortable, mellow, healthy life to gain pleasure from family and from quiet pursuits, according to a poll of 778 members of the class conducted by the Harvard Alumni Association.

Family

More than 70 percent of the class considers family to be most important, and a strong majority says family and friends contribute most to personal happiness. More than half say they are either satisfied or very satisfied with their lives, with most of the rest saying they have mixed emotions.

Favorite hobbies are reading, travel and listening to music.

Since graduation, life has been pretty good to the class. Median family income is more than $100,000 annually. Harvard graduates report higher personal and family incomes than do Radcliffe graduates.

More than 80 percent have never suffered a serious illness. More than 40 percent say they have never been victims of crime, and less than 15 percent say they have experienced violent crime.

A healthy lifestyle matters to the class. Fewer than one in 10 never exercise, with a majority working up a sweat for more than three hours weekly. Nine of 10 do not smoke. One-third of the Class has quit smoking since college.

Nine in 10 either drink only socially or abstain. Nine in 10 have never used illegal drugs, and virtually none do now. More than 40 percent, however, support legalization of marijuana.

The class is overwhelmingly left of center politically, with only one in five Harvard alumni and one in 10 Radcliffe alumnae claiming to be Republican. The class overwhelmingly supports the legal right to abortion, sanctions against South Africa, gun control and higher taxes to support public education.

If only...

While about half of the class attended only public schools before college, less than 40 percent of their children did (or do currently).

If they relived their lives, fewer than one in 10 Harvard graduates would choose not to attend Harvard, whereas more than one in five Radcliffe graduates would have turned down Radcliffe.