Within the past decade, politics have become incredibly polarized. As a result, this has had a detrimental effect on political discussion on college campuses across our country.
Political polarization does extremely more harm than good. It has led and is leading to a widening gap in which politics has become a contentious topic and something that is almost untouchable to bring up in regular conversation. Personally, I now avoid bringing up politics in conversation because views are no longer opinions. Views have become fortified, and discussions seem to easily turn into a battle of right opinions versus wrong opinions.
The growing divide, fueled by certain politicians and media personalities, between classmates, coworkers, friends, family and us Americans, should be of major concern. However, political polarization is more than us not being able to discuss politics with other people we may not know.
Political polarizations also threaten higher education in a variety of ways. We have seen the impact of politically charged legislation such as 2024’s SB 17, which forced the closure and renaming of any offices that had anything to do with D.E.I., like the Multicultural Engagement Center or the Gender and Sexuality Center. Student affairs offices that had helped Longhorns navigate college were shuttered overnight as a result of getting caught in the crossfire.
Most recently, Trump’s compact directly threatens higher education by attempting to dangle “priority funding” in exchange for universities agreeing to a laundry list of restrictions. Several conditions of the compact include vague policies such as abolishing or reforming campus units that are perceived as hostile to conservative ideas or requiring universities to screen out international students who show hostility to the U.S. or its values.
Policies such as these are detrimental in how they will force UT to bend to reflect the whims of this current administration and also set a precedent for this to continue happening in the future. Politically charged legislation driven by political polarization undermines the core mission of higher education by restricting academic freedom, chilling free expression, and prioritizing partisan agendas over institutional autonomy, which hurts the diverse and inclusive environment that UT strives to create.
Chen is an economics junior and member of Bridge Texas.
