So, you may not like some of them, but you need to gain their respect. Your first challenge is to learn the lay of the land. The first few departmental meetings will be very disorienting as names and phrases fly across the table as a series of allusions, metaphors, and short hand evoking laughter or derision while you sit there dumbfounded. It will take some time to learn the informal patterns and organizational culture that characterize your new home, but it is important to make the effort. It is unlikely that you have ever been exposed to politics as pervasive and at times as vicious as you will find in most institutions of higher learning.
People live together for many years, and insults real and imagined can fester for a long time.
Your job is not to be consumed by it, but to learn enough not to be caught in the middle. Most of what you need to know will not be expressed at formal meetings. If your department has informal get togethers, attend them. If the members of your department aren t collectively very social, suggest some ways of getting together as a group or individually. Even if you re not terribly athletic, going to the gym or playing racquetball ball is an excellent way of relieving stress and getting to know your colleagues in a less guarded setting.