Republicans are single-handedly destroying the Yale community. They do not offer anything substantial to our campus. They are all racist, bigoted, homophobes, whose mere presence serves as an unwelcome reminder that Donald J. Trump is our president. The very idea that there are Republicans lurking among us is truly disturbing and offensive. I am tired of having to share a campus with people who hate minorities and support the patriarchy. If Yale is truly a progressive school that cares about the safety and mental health of its students, it will stop accepting Republicans.
This is not that crazy of an idea. In fact, achieving pure political homogeneity at Yale, an intelligent and noble pursuit, is already in the works. Today, conservative students comprise roughly 10 percent of the student population. We are so close to eradicating Republicans for good. Students on Yale’s campus have been doing an excellent job silencing the conservatives that are here. Students are hesitant to befriend, date or even talk to a Republican. This ensures that students will never be intellectually challenged or, God forbid, placed in the position where they are forced to articulately defend their own political beliefs. Because comfort and shelter are what college is all about.
Have I ever engaged in respectful open discourse with a Republican without resorting to name-calling or blaming them for Trump? Of course not. Just like how the United States does not negotiate with terrorists, I do not negotiate with Republicans. I have my morals. I came to Yale to be in a liberal echo chamber, surrounded by opinions exactly like my own. I thought Yale was supposed to be a bubble. How dare Yale Admissions have the audacity to accept students with opinions that exist in the real world!
In fact, cleansing Yale of its Republicans is necessary to live up to Yale’s mission statement. Yale’s mission statement aims to educate future leaders through the “free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni.” For starters, this free exchange of ideas can only be achieved with an exclusively left-leaning student body. Obviously, we can only openly exchange ideas among people who agree with us. Republicans are all fascists who suppress opposition. The only solution is to get rid of them.
The second part of Yale’s mission statement calls for “an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community.” How could we possibly form this type of community when we have Republicans in our midst? Any community with a Republican problem can never be ethical or diverse. Republicans are inherently unethical as they are all greedy and motivated by self-interest (that’s a fact!). Republicans also seriously lack diversity. We can all agree that diversity is a beautiful thing. It benefits everyone by exposing students to new perspectives and allowing them to meet people of different ethnicities, religions and sexualities. But intellectual diversity does not count as actual diversity. If anything, Republicans hurt Yale’s diversity efforts since every single Republican is a white, wealthy, straight man. For these reasons, Yale can never live up to its mission statement if it continues its outdated tradition of accepting Republican students.
In short, Republicans have no place on this campus. We don’t want to talk to them, or even look at them. We don’t want to put up with their racist and bigoted ways or engage with their ignorant ideologies. And we certainly don’t want to send the message that Yale students are intolerant. Instead, we want to put our best foot forward and show the world that we support all of our students and seek out diversity in all forms — except for Republicans.
Lily Rogers | lily.rogers@yale.edu