Diversity of thought: A Fantasy of CSU students

I never could have imagined how politically hostile my first day at a California State University would be. 

In January 2023 I transferred from my small community college, which had been mostly online, to my local CSU. Having grown up being homeschooled from kindergarten to high school, entering the public school system was a culture shock to me. 

There were parts that I loved right from the start such as meeting friends who grew up in different backgrounds and starting a new job. University, like the rest of America, is a place where cultures and values come to mix and develop. 

I remember feeling relieved that people were open to the true “diversity of thought” that CSU Chico State, Monterey Bay, Long Beach, and East Bay boast about. 

That all changed when I was assigned a letter by Congressman Doug LaMalfa. 

On the first day of school, my professor passed out over twenty copies of a letter he’d received from Rep. LaMalfa during the COVID-19 pandemic. He proceeded to explain that he’d written to Rep. LaMalfa to express his concerns regarding an upcoming piece of legislation. The letter that my class held in their hands was the response to my professor’s concerns. 

Our assignment was simple: note the rhetorical devices being used by Rep. LaMalfa, particularly logical fallacies. 

Of all the assignments I’d expected, the academic challenges I’d anticipated, this was never on the list. 

I’d been warned by other students in the CSU system that many of the faculty and universities were liberal-leaning, to put it mildly. I was told that my more conservative views would likely be better unvoiced in the classroom and that it was best to simply not mention politics. 

This led me to make a false conclusion that my professors would also choose not to discuss politics if it would cause unwanted conversations. 

The reality was that my professor loved to discuss conservative politics and politicians, such as Donald Trump and Rep. LaMalfa, so long as they were painted in a negative light. 

This assignment given on the first day sent a clear message: this is a liberal classroom and differing opinions are not welcomed. 

Many of the students instantly began to chime in on the discussion, all of them understanding what kinds of answers my professor was looking for. They criticized every line of the letter making sure to paint it as a piece of conservative propaganda. 

I never shied away from challenging, respectfully, the views that were presented in class. When it came to be my turn, I pointed out the strong points of Rep. LaMalfa’s response and assumed that would be the end of it. 

From that day, my professor would often call on me to ask my opinion in front of the class regarding Trump, Fox News, and whether the Bible qualifies as pornographic material. 

By saying something positive about my congressional representative I had made myself the number one choice for student-professor debate in our classroom. 

To be clear, I learned a great deal in that class, and my grades were never threatened due to my political views. However, the point still stands that there was an expectation set that day. For conservative students, the CSU system is a hostile place should they voice their opinions.

This is a reality that I continue to face in many of my classes and I have no doubts that this happens in universities across the state. My friends at CSU Sacramento and CSU San Francisco have told me stories in a similar vein, most of which resulted in their silence in class. 

To many in our CSU system, valuing diversity of thought does not mean entertaining the ideas of different political ideologies or backgrounds. Rather, it means holding thoughts and opinions that align with university values, which change every day as our political world shifts. 

Gone are the days when universities supported meaningful discussions and debates. Students are being told that if they are truly smart, they will believe exactly what the school teaches. 

Smart students shouldn’t question a professor, that would be ridiculous. 

Students’ efforts are better placed on criticizing one of California’s few Republican Congressmen.