If you were expecting the political debates on campus to calm down and balance heading into this fall, I have some bad news for you – it get’s worse from here. I was a freshman in the fall of 2012, the last presidential election, and initially believed some experiences from that time might be insightful for the many students that have yet to experience a university campus during election season.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. There are few parallels between 2012 and 2016 that I can offer.
Disappointing, I know. But the political landscape of 2016 is so different than it was four years ago that I find all the experiences from the Romney-Obama battle to be moot for this particular upcoming election. Dialogue on campus degenerated in 2012.
With two incredibly controversial and generally despised candidates representing the two major parties, there is little specific advice I can offer. This is not 2012, and this election is different than many that came before it.
Don’t misunderstand me, there was a fair amount of “angst” in September, October and November in 2012, but political debates were not as volatile or unpredictable as in years prior. Disliking the candidate representing the opposing party is nothing new and that was the case in 2012. Students argued and it sometimes would escalate to crude and irreverent behavior, but for the most part it was an honest debate over what was best for the United States going forward.
You can see the dilemma when comparing that election to the present.
2016 is not moderate. The animosity present in this election has escalated far ahead of past presidential races, and we aren’t even through August. Last election, there were plenty of negatives associated with candidates. Instead of talking about Obamacare and unemployment (you know, real issues) like 2012, this election cycle has focused more on emails and the size of a candidate’s appendages.
Words like “crooked” and “fascist” have been thrown around habitually, and the rhetoric will only decline as we move forward. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton come into this election with extreme passion both for and against their respective bids for the Oval Office. Now that the field is set, I expect more anger and bitterness between the two sides as the election progresses.
I hope that I am wrong. I hope that students and faculty will exert self-awareness and respect when engaging others in debate. I hope my fellow Panthers are able to engage in meaningful discussions without resorting to verbal or physical abuse. I hope the University of Northern Iowa can be a place where plurality is both appreciated and practiced. But these are dreams of what should be, not what will happen.
In reality, our prospects are bleak. Quite the downer, I know. With that in mind, I can offer two pieces of advice for newcomers and the uninitiated: use your voice and take action, but do so with awareness and a basic level of respect for the person across the aisle.
When caught between an emotional or a tempered response, take the high road. Critique ideas, but not the people behind them. Don’t be afraid to enter debates and speak your mind, but attacking others produces nothing of use. Acting without emotion is easy to say and harder to do, but it will be worth it if we can make meaningful strides. If we can do that, we can make this campus a place to share ideas without fear of being unpopular without sacrificing reason or critical thinking.
As parting knowledge, I urge my fellow Panthers to expect anything and everything, and to keep an open mind throughout the semester. If we can’t achieve that end, we may find that the preexisting belligerent nature of politics will only worsen as November gets closer.