POINT OF VIEW
Reaching Across the Aisle By Emma Gorsuch ’21
T
he Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE, has given Colorado College a yellow rating for free speech. In 2012 and 2016, CC was listed in the top 10 worst schools for free speech.
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COOMBES
To be fair, most small liberal arts schools have a tumultuous history with free speech. Big news stories have covered restrictive administrative policies that limit or ban conservative student organizations, prevent students from taking resident advisor or other campus positions because of their political affiliations, suspend or take other punitive measures against students who have been vocal about their political stance in their school paper or on social media, censure professor publications, and fire or otherwise punish professors whose views don’t align with the left-wing culture prominent in most liberal arts institutions. While administrative policies remain the focus of most national conversations, the question I get asked by prospective students has nothing to do with how CC’s student policy and resource guide, The Pathfinder, or President Jill Tiefenthaler
I have found the students at CC and the professors within the Department of Political Science to be respectful, and in many cases encouraging, of diverse opinions both inside and outside the classroom. 24 | COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN | SPRING 2020
address free speech. When new or potential students learn that my political views ... deviate from the general trend at CC, I’m frequently asked what that is like, if I’m able to make friends, if other students are OK with it, if I’m isolated by beliefs, and if I’m still able to develop a connection with my professors. None of these questions can be answered by reading a free speech code or legalistic policies; they are about the social culture at CC. Thankfully, most students don’t have to deal with direct censorship on their campus. The news stories, although significant, make up a minority of students’ experiences, but a far greater number of people are affected by peer pressure, professor biases, and the pervasive culture in their school on an almost daily basis. Although I cannot speak for the majority of students on campus, in my personal interactions I have found the students at CC and the professors within the Department of Political Science to be respectful, and in many cases encouraging, of diverse opinions both inside and outside the classroom. I’ve found most students to be curious about my ideas instead of dismissive. When politically divisive topics come up in class, students come up to me afterward wanting to understand more about my perspective. Though teachers and peers may push back on my ideas, very few have ever made me feel attacked because of what I believe.
