And USU is a pretty conservative school. It’s like 1.5 hours from the liberal hub of SLC, is known for its agricultural science program, and is smack in the middle of a ton of farms. It’s about as conservative as the area he was from (it’s just past the last of the liberal area in Davis County), and on the opposite end of the state. The area is culturally fairly similar to ultra-conservative Idaho, which is about an hour up the road.

My guess is he didn’t do well so far from home, so he found a local school to attend in the same county as his parents.