Something worrisome has been happening in my classes recently: my very liberal professors have been denouncing Trump supporters. Yes, this does not seem surprising, but no, it is not acceptable.

It began the first week of the semester in both my political science and history classes. My professors, who are supportive of a "safe space" for all students, began the class by making fun of Trump supporters. I recall one testing out the room asking if anyone was supporting Trump, and when no one raised their hands she followed up by saying, "Well if there are any Trump supporters in here they're probably too afraid and embarrassed to say so." She also described Trump supporters as ignorant and uneducated. In my next class, my professor did not ask if anyone was a Trump supporter, rather, he simply came up in conversation, and she went on a tangent discussing how terrible his supporters must be. Now, whereas I don't completely disagree with the origins of their concerns with Trump supporters, I found it very aggressive and disruptive to make these types of statements in a classroom setting.

After this happened, my mind immediately raced to myself as a freshman. Coming into college as a history and political science major, I was thrown into classes with people with very strong political opinions, and it was slightly intimidating. I have found that this is how many freshmen feel, and even some upperclassmen who are not used to taking such opinion-based classes. They, in many cases, are finding themselves starting to figure out their own political beliefs, and trying to find ways to express them. Now imagine if you were beginning to solidify your views, trying to figure out where you fit into our crazy political spectrum, and all of your professors are mocking you for it. That doesn't seem like the "safe space" they are so supportive of, now does it?

I have begun to pay closer attention to the people in my classes, and I have found that there are Trump supporters in the mix. However, when the class was asked if there were, they did not speak up. This came as no surprise to me. They knew that they would be unfairly judged by their professors for their leanings, and knew that there would be no "safe space" for them.

For me this is a weird situation. On one hand, I don't tend to be a big fan of Trump supporters, but on the other, I think they have a right to their political opinions, and should not feel belittled by the very people who should be enhancing their learning experiences. Is there a solution to this? Yes, I think there is. In one of my history classes, my professor asked each student to anonymously write who they support and why on a piece of paper. She then read all of the responses out loud so we could have a class discussion. By doing this, everyone in the class had the "safe space" my professors love so much. They also got to hear the reasons their fellow classmates supported certain candidates. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the class supported Bernie Sanders, but a handful of students wrote Donald Trump. I did not agree with any of their reasoning; however, their opinions were heard and respected as their own. This truly did add to the learning experience without denouncing, or belittling any students.

I think that this is an issue on many college campuses, if you go to a liberal school and are not a liberal. You may feel embarrassed to state your opinions, or encouraged to keep quiet. This is something that needs to stop. Every student must feel they can have a discussion about the problems facing our nation, and whom they believe can fix these problems, without being belittled and quieted by the very people who should be encouraging them to speak up.