When high school students are starting their college journey, they know more or less what to expect. College is a place to experience independence and freedom in your life and cultivate plenty of academic and social experiences. But something to be aware of is that at many of these institutions, only one perspective will reign supreme.

It is no secret that most universities in the U.S. are overwhelmingly liberal institutions. With such a dominance from a single school of thought, a culture of conformity and fear builds as students are afraid to go against what is the predominant ideology that the professors disseminate. This cycle can lead to the suppression of free speech on campuses in favor of a system. In a 2020 survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, College Pulse and RealClear Education, Syracuse University was ranked as one of the worst schools for free speech in the country.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with a perspective, slandering the belief or the people who subscribe to it, does little to fix problems. Concepts like “safe spaces,” while good in some situations, can insulate and supercharge preconceived notions if devalued or overused. The solution to many of the problems that plague our society today is understanding different perspectives and why people agree or disagree with them. As uncomfortable as some students may find it, allowing different perspectives to be seen and heard on campus can enrich everyone’s understanding of the world.

Over 60% of extreme liberals feel that it’s “always” or “sometimes” acceptable to shut down a speaker, compared to 15% for extreme conservatives, according to the 2020 free speech survey. Also, 60% of students reported feeling that they could not express an opinion because of how a student, a professor or their administration would respond, the survey found.

These statistics indicate the existence of a culture of fear and intimidation. The thought of speaking your opinion freely, being punished or threatened for it and then not having any support from anyone around you causes many to opt for silence or disingenuously repeat what those around us are saying.

The popular argument in keeping opinions that dissent from college norms are that the opinions are “hateful” and that the people who dare to even listen to these viewpoints are “fascists”. While these people do exist and should be condemned, this rhetoric is now overused against people who do not condone what those people represent.

It is OK to disagree with a viewpoint that someone else may have, from politics to dietary choices, but using inflammatory insults does nothing tangible to further positive conversations. Ultimately, everyone wants a more unified society, but unity comes in two ways: the first being recognizing each other’s differences, respecting them and going about our lives coexisting. The second is unity through conformity imposed by one school of thought. On college campuses, especially here at SU, we are living through the latter.

One of the reasons that many people go to college is to prepare themselves for life in the real world. But since many students are only exposed to one perspective during college (as well as some having only one perspective in their lives before college), we as students are being set up to fail in being part of an ever-changing society.

College is supposed to challenge us academically, socially and philosophically. But if the college experience is just parroting what our professors and peers want to hear for grades and clout, then are we really being prepared for a society that has a wide array of viewpoints?

Dalton Baxter is a sophomore applied data analytics major. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at dwbaxter@syr.edu.

Published on March 29, 2022 at 12:05 am