Coming to terms with opposition: Liberals and Conservatives at Pitt
Embrace the diversity, student body, and first amendment on campus
As the 2016 Presidential Election is becoming more visible on the horizon, the excitement and perpetual talk of politics are evident at Pitt. Political conversations are not only necessary with peers who share similar ideologies, but with those who hold opposing beliefs.
Pitt, like many other universities, has an observably liberal student body. This liberalness is exhibited in the “Raise Hell Not Tuition”-pro-Bernie Sanders protest that has marched through campus on numerous occasions.
Despite the observable liberal community, there is definitely a conservative community at Pitt who expresses their beliefs in non-demonstrative ways.
What is the extent that these two groups at Pitt interact with each other’s ideas? And, does Pitt’s student body foster a feeling of safety and openness for people who have views that don’t align with the masses?
Pitt College Republican’s host talk titled, “Free Speech”, given by Milo Yiannopoulos
I found answers to these questions through a simple Facebook post that asked if any people in the Pitt community, who identify as liberals or conservatives, have experiences when they felt like the political minority on campus.
The experiences of one liberal student and one conservative student encapsulate the opinions of all my peers I spoke to. Despite these two student’s contrasting outlooks on policies, their experiences coincide.
A conservative student, who has chosen to remain anonymous, confided that on Pitt’s campus he feels “the need to suppress his opinions because of the overbearing and, oftentimes, aggressive Democrat-heavy student body.”
Similarly, a liberal student, who has also chosen to remain anonymous, feels “the Republican community is judgmental and unwelcoming, exhibiting how conservatives aren’t as open to new ideas as the liberal community at Pitt.”
So, what’s the deal guys? It appears our University’s community stifles beliefs that aren’t generally held or don’t align with our own. This generates a huge problem for students who will soon be entering “the real world” because it’s true that we won’t always agree or understand the opinions of others, ESPECIALLY in politics.
However, silencing the voices of those with contrasting opinions intimidates them from exercising their first amendment right. Pitt is a community that is supposed to foster conservation on not only popular views, but also on the unpopular ones. The opinions we frequently don’t hear about are the ones we are often afraid of the most and, arguably, the ones that we suppress the most.
A university like Pitt that challenges students academically requires a student body that challenges each other’s ideas respectfully, whether you’re a liberal or conservative.