By: Paige Scofield Campus Life Editor
Politics in the United States can be very dividing for our country and our citizens. Regardless of who won or lost the presidential race, we can all agree that this election cycle has been exhausting, stressful and thought provoking. For some, the result of Donald Trump’s win was devastating and for others, a glorious triumph.
Within this election cycle, it has been no secret that president-elect Trump, who has no past political career, has used hate speech and hate rhetoric towards certain ethnicities, groups and individuals. Regarding these facts, some students at Western have concerns.
On Friday Nov. 11, ASWOU put on the event, “WOU is Alive,” to answer some questions and concerns, regarding what might happen to Western’s students once Donald Trump takes office. The panel to answer said questions and concerns included: Jaime Silva, Director of the Student Health and Counseling Center; Ryan Hagemann, Vice President & General Counsel; Rex Fuller, President of Western; Rebecca Chiles, Director of Public Safety; and Gary Dukes, Vice president of Student Affairs. The event was moderated by the president of ASWOU, Alma Pacheco.
The questions were from the audience who attended the event.
Question: Will campus security be up to combat or deter violent acts against minority groups, like women, LGBTQ folks, people of color, etc. What is Western doing to keep campus a safe space for all?
Chiles: We’re doing the same things we’ve always done in addition to just being more vigilant, being more open, being more watchful. We’re monitoring social media more than we ever have before … to see what is going on on our campus. We (Public Safety) are always here, 24 hours a day. To always be a person that anybody can go to for any reason at all. We want to have that opportunity available to everyone on our campus.
Fuller: If you see something that’s out of line be sure to report it, call for help if you need it and rely on the services that are available.
Question: What exactly is the concern of danger that individuals should be worried about on campus?
Chiles: I don’t know if there are any specific concerns that have been put forth. Because of this election, there were racially charged, racially motivated, ethnically motivated, gender motivated speech from some of the politicians involved in that. Certain segments of people are concerned because they have heard those threats or those angry, hate words said about their particular groups.
Question: Can you address the concern of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival students? How is Western specifically going to protect our students who are in that population? What can we do to become more involved so that maybe in the future we can have a voice in the political situation?
Fuller: In terms of the DACA student standing, nothing has changed. The risk, of course, is as an executive order, it may be subject to revision or change. That’s the concern you see nationally and locally. One of the things that can help mitigate against that is to be actively engaged with those involved with the federal level, with regard to influencing the direction of the next administration. That’s one thing we can do. We also can be speaking as a group of presidents around the country talking about the need for immigration reform and to be part of that. With this change in administration, now is the time for higher education to speak to the public good aspect of what the university is. Both in terms of closing the educational attainment gap, but also in terms of a reasonable policy around what does immigration looks like, and how does that benefit from higher education.
Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu
