I don’t speak out on politics, or controversial issues in general, much less write about them in my column. I usually stick to ranking bathrooms, discussing cute animals on campus and judging ice cream competitions.
But I had some observations about the aftermath of the election. As a government major, there was serious build-up in my classes to this election, as well as a significant analysis afterwards. The degree of partisanship here not just in the government department, but also other humanities departments, is significant but not surprising.
I’m no Trump fan, and know that most of my classmates aren’t either, but I think the level of partisan behavior in Cornell classrooms is inappropriate. And it shouldn’t matter if you’re a Trump fan or not. Everyone should be able to agree that polarization is bad.
I don’t care what the professors or TAs think — what matters is that we as students shouldn’t know, or it shouldn’t be this obvious (Unless of course, they’re doing specific research or teaching a course on a certain topic. But that’s usually not the case). For example, I don’t think anyone should’ve gotten an onslaught of emails the morning after the election from professors bemoaning the results like I and many other Cornell students did. I also think it’s deeply inappropriate that there are professors here who cannot hide their disdain of other viewpoints and react in anger if challenged in even the most indirect of ways. It builds a well-understood fear of retaliation in the gradebook that students feel they are completely at the mercy of. There is very much a dominant dialogue here, and you stick to the script, or face the consequences.
It makes sense, superficially, for professors and classroom leaders to feel this is an appropriate way to act. The student body, in an exit poll conducted by The Sun, was in favor of Harris 27-1. These professors are, generally speaking, preaching to the choir. And that’s a problem.
We students, as future leaders of our community, need to not just hear what we already know and agree with. Ranting about demographics that many Cornell students haven’t ever been exposed to is not productive. This kind of education empowers behavior hurtful to democracy: It was common to see students declaring they wanted nothing to do with anyone who voted differently than they did after the election.
I argue that insinuating, or outright saying, that people who think differently than you are ignorant or morally deficient is not productive. This kind of moral poo-pooing isn’t as bad as an armed insurgency movement in our capital, but that’s not my point. We can be better than this.
Right now Cornell is teaching us to be pigs in the mud, snuffling and oinking around in this tired, existential, hyper-polarized mess, and they’re framing it as some kind of elite liberal arts education. With this kind of subtle, universally accepted mentality, we’re no better than anyone else. Instead, Cornell needs to teach us to pull ourselves up and engage with our community, even if it’s uncomfortable.
This means listening and approaching differences with empathy, not hatred. No one wants to do this on either side, but Cornell should be encouraging their students to be the ones to break the cycle of polarization and hyperbole that has gotten completely out of control.
Otherwise, we will continue to view each other with disdain as existential threats. Things will continue to escalate. Our democracy will continue to suffer.
And remember — people don’t want to engage with you if you act like they’re subhuman because their life experiences led them to think differently than you. This is a basic tenet that many in our Ivory Tower and beyond overlook.
Cornell needs to do a better job of encouraging their students to listen and understand, engage in meaningful dialogue, and become leaders in empathy. Starting with the professors, Cornell must teach their students to be accepting, eager to listen and ready to understand. I don’t think the actual curriculum needs to change. I think the framing of the issues within the curriculum and conduct towards disagreement and open discussion needs to change. Objectivity needs to be the standard for non-ideological and non-political classes, and explicitly ideological texts should be free of existing bias and assumptions when studied. And there should be a variety of ideologies – not a dominant narrative.
Beyond approaching others with empathy, we also need to engage in self-reflection. By virtue of getting to attend university, we are recipients of immense privilege. It is a privilege to get to go to college at all, especially at a place like Cornell (Consider the privilege most students have prior to Cornell as well. The median income of a Cornell student is significantly higher than the national average). Without this opportunity, our lives would be very different. We need to face the mirror, and understand why we think like we do, and why it is different from others. “Others” are not the opposition. They are simply people who think differently than us.
Cornell needs to seriously reevaluate the execution of their liberal arts mission because I see it as directly complicit in the polarization that is destroying our democratic nation. We need to create an environment, starting with our professors, that embraces disagreement, meaningful dialogue and understanding of different life experiences.
Productive conversations and dialogue need to happen for our country to heal, and Cornell has the ability to produce leaders that can go forth in the world with these ideals. This is an opportunity for Cornell and its students to be leaders, and I believe we can rise to the challenge.
Aurora Weirens is a fourth year student in the College of Arts & Sciences. Her fortnightly column The Northern Light illuminates student life. She can be reached at [email protected].
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