In politics, education and media, we see the vilification of race, gender, political affiliation, religion, etc. now more than ever. Everyone feels like they are under attack.

We’re allowing the political class to divide the citizens in our country along the lines of race, political ideology, religion, and sexual orientation.

We’re also allowing the professors on our college campuses across the United States tell students what they should think. If the students think a certain way that the professors do not agree with, they’re vilified and sometimes are made to feel like they’re ignorant, naïve, or just plain evil for having an opposing opinion or ideology.

What happened to the true meaning of diversity? Diversity isn’t just variety in race, gender, or religion, it’s also having a variety of opinions and views.

College campuses say that they’re promoting diversity on campus, but some professors are trying to push their own personal social and political views on their students. Students shouldn’t have to defend themselves against accusations hurled at them by professors and no student should be afraid to say what they think.

College campuses used to promote free speech and the open exchange of ideas. Now they’re becoming the champions of restricting speech they deem inappropriate and stifling views they oppose. They’re teaching young people to fear speech by equating it to physical violence.

This cannot stand and something needs to change. We need civilized dialogue between people with opposing views because this is the only way for students to work through their differences and understand each other better. It’s important that colleges support dialogue between students with opposing views, different life experiences, and different cultures.

Edited by Jason Morrison, Jada Johnson, Adam White, Jessica Galvin