opinion

On a college campus, it's not easy being conservative

As a political science student at the University of Michigan I always felt as though I had to tiptoe around class discussions in fear of outing myself as a "teabagger Republican." As a conservative student, my worst fear was getting bad grades simply because of my political inclinations and not being taken seriously in class discussions.

Like many of my peers at UM, I was partially "in the closet," leaving hints only by arguing for the constitution, individual liberty and less government dependency. I knew that telling a class "I'm conservative" would get me laughed at, even ridiculed. Before you think I'm exaggerating, consider what some of my friends have faced.

I've gone through few political science classes where students or professors didn't bash the Koch brothers or call Bush a "war criminal." Often the policies of President Barack Obama are criticized, but ultimately he's given an A for effort for his attempts at social change.

Yet social justice and progressive politics emerge as the norm on campus, and the result is a benevolent view of government.

Once a student told me she believed the federal government should pay for womens' tampons, describing it as a "right." She gave me a blank stare when I asked her if she thought that could result in more government influence over her body.

Simply put, the progressive student body is hostile to people with traditional values. In time, I learned not to care or be offended by this, because I don't view conservatives at UM as oppressed (as opposed to how many minority groups on campus view themselves). But many students fear backlash if they go against the campus grain and speak their mind.

If intellectual diversity is of any importance to higher education, this should concern you. Luckily, the extremism at UM is beginning to face worthy opponents, because for every action, there's a reaction.

Recently, a screening on campus of "American Sniper" was canceled after the Muslim Students' Association and a couple hundred students signed a petition that claimed showing the film would create an "unsafe space," citing Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL featured in the film, as a racist mass murderer.

MSA must have forgotten an even smaller minority — veterans — are also fellow students deserving representation.

The conservative group Young Americans for Freedom countered the cancellation, which the university tried to downplay by saying it was simply "rescheduled," with media appearances and a petition with twice the signatures MSA received eventually getting the film played at its originally scheduled time and place.

Just a couple weeks ago an extremist group, By Any Means Necessary, hijacked the university's Board of Regents meeting by violently barging in. And this wasn't the first time.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it constitutional for Michigan to ban affirmative action, BAMN members said the ruling was "the new Jim Crow" and "Plessy vs. Ferguson," calling the High Court racist.

It's groups like MSA and BAMN that make conservative-leaning students think twice about speaking their minds in fear of being stigmatized.

The ideologues who drive campus progressivism would rather shout you down than have an intelligible debate.

Students who aren't involved in social justice are seen as backward, impassionate and downright strange. And students who disagree (or mock) the mainstream movements like progressivism, environmentalism and feminism are often shut up through scare tactics.

Take for example Omar Mahmood, a student whose apartment door was vandalized in November for mocking self-styled "social justice warriors" in a satirical column.

The vandals, who like Mahmood were Muslim, thought it necessary to harass Mahmood for not partaking in their groupthink. If your views don't jibe, "Get the F@#& out," one of the pieces of paper left at Mahmood's door said.

Broadly speaking, college is supposed to be anti-orthodox, but has become orthodox, and the liberal has become illiberal. Now, university is where the principles of freedom go to die.

In an environment where diversity and inclusion are trumpeted by administrators and faculty, principles of freedom are neglected from study, and conservatives are either laughed at for talking or not welcome.

From the semesters sitting in class, I can report that social justice, moral relativism and environmental fanaticism are the norm at UM, and most colleges like it.

Despite these pitfalls, reactionary conservatism is making a comeback on campus, but only thanks to the initiative of a select group of students who rely on a counter-cultural hodge-podge of small student organizations, extracurricular opportunities and news sources in search of non-orthodox thought.

But the university, its administrators, faculty and hyper-emotional students actively work to stifle debate and keep conservatives on the outside looking in.

This is exactly why I chose UM and not Hillsdale. Because power in numbers can make a difference and UM needs more conservatives.

Derek Draplin is a 2015 University of Michigan graduate and a former Detroit News intern.

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