Unlike other colleges and universities, Point Park does not have a College Republicans club or a Young Democrats club. Being a liberal arts university, it’s a given that assumptions will run amuck of most students being left leaning. But is this necessarily true?
It’s up for debate whether there’s a majority political affiliation on this campus. But like it or not, space should exist where people can talk among themselves about what happens in politics, as it does have far reaching consequences and should be talked about.
Sure, Point Park does have a Political Science major, a Political Science Association (PPPSA) and the Young Eco-Socialists (YES) club, but PPPSA is dormant and hasn’t posted on any social media outlet since last spring semester, and YES has two members with no activity on The Herd.
But, just these three clubs alone aren’t enough to create discussions on campus, and they need to be present for students possibly interested in getting involved. If they’re not forward-facing organizations that show they’re open for all students to actively participate, then these discussions won’t happen.
While it may seem like Point Park may just be a rare, apolitical exception to the rule of universities which can be more polarizing than inclusive, it doesn’t mean that people don’t talk politics here at all — it just isn’t so broadly shared.
But on the flip side of this, we’re headed toward a direction where discussion alone simply isn’t going to cut it anymore. Additionally, there’s a difference between people having differing views from one another versus people spewing disinformation and hate.
At this point, almost anyone who consumes any kind of media likely knows about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It’s safe to say that murder is wrong and even political pundits should not be killed in broad daylight, but this did not all happen in a vacuum.
Years of hatred have built up from certain groups trying to push others as far as they can. Kirk himself exacerbated this, regularly spewing meaningless, xenophobic garbage meant to generate clips to attract attention to him online.
Let’s make one thing entirely clear: Kirk was someone who celebrated homophobia, transphobia, believed the civil rights act should have been repealed and believed empathy is a “new age” thing that should go away.
The people giving Kirk empathy and pause from “political violence,” all the while ignoring victims of the genocide in Palestine, children killed in school shootings, and left-leaning victims of gun violence, have entirely lost the plot.
To be less reactionary, and this is true for any political affiliation, people need to understand just what they’re aligning themselves with.
Don’t just take pundits’ words as automatic fact. Instead, people need to do some research: actually read proposed legislative bills and be vocal about one’s support or lack of support for said bill.
This expands to Student Government as well. Talk to the senators, press them to take action for the bettering of the university and participate in the public forum open to students every week.
Where else are students in the picture? According to JSTOR, student political activism has been at the forefront of political change since at least the 1960s. If you want to create change, show that a space for change can exist here again.
And don’t — however terrifying it may be — let an act of violence against another force you to shy away from what you believe.
