The Effect of Election Season on Campus

With one of the most important elections of our lifetime closely approaching, students are expressing their support and patriotism in many sorts of ways. Of course, exercising one's freedom of speech should always be protected and encouraged there is a line that is drawn between expressing one's views and silencing others.

Although Thomas More University has no endorsed political candidate or party and will never do so, students on campus are free to express their views in a constructive and safe way. Recently however there have been cases where students have had their expressions tampered with or vandalized. We take a look back at the previous 2016 election to see how some students handled the election.

“They sprayed offensive slurs, what felt like everywhere one was found in murphy dorms, one was found on the dumpster. The slurs were against people of color, it made some feel unsafe and it made others outraged. The students that were outraged went to the administrative ears to have their voices heard, but that didn’t stop what was happening. It continued after the election and the tension stayed.” Says a former Thomas More 2016 freshman.

This unacceptable behavior has unfortunately remained a reoccurring feature in disgruntled students. This year there was an incident where a student's car was tampered with and had a political yard sign placed upon it. Thomas More security actively works to monitor and hold those accountable who decide to step over the line of peaceful political discussions.

" If someone tries to vandalize property they are risking a criminal charge and also risk their ability to remain a student here." Says Director of Security Dennis Lehmkuhl. "Root for your own team, it does no good being negative towards another side and not supporting your own." he says.

Regardless of one's political opinions, the unifying aspects we all have are that we are all Thomas More Saints. We all go to the same classes and eat at the same dining halls, and we are all in this together.