Editor’s Note: The following letter to the editor is a response to a Jan. 25 Daily Orange article titled “Feeling unwelcome, Trump supporters at Syracuse University want civility.”

 It’s important to realize that, despite claims of “open hostility,” conservative students are still coddled on campus.

A “general attitude of self-censorship for the sake of self-preservation” is confusing to say the least — these students claim to feel unsafe, yet apparently not unsafe enough to voice their opinions publicly. Students even give their first and last names in the article, rather than make their responses anonymous. This puts into question the substance of these claims.

The notion of being silenced is particularly perplexing when conservative students are given a public platform, via The Daily Orange, to openly and freely express their political views. This perceived victimhood coming from right-leaning students is ironic considering that at least 50 of their fellow students have been directly targeted and affected by the Trump administration due to their national origin and religion.

There comes a point when the importance of morality and human rights transcends political beliefs and affiliations. Feeling “left out” for not sharing the views of the majority of students on campus becomes irrelevant in comparison to the issues other students on that same campus face when their rights as people are in question. When there are students unable to travel home because they would be barred from reentering the United States and undocumented students under growing threat of deportation, one begs the question: Who are the ones truly living in fear?

Maria Norris

Syracuse University film major ‘19

 

Published on February 26, 2017 at 7:32 pm