IT IS EASY to feel threatened on a seemingly liberal campus if you are a conservative or libertarian. After all, even our official student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, rarely shows both sides of a debate, instead copying-and-pasting the talking points of the Democratic Party directly onto their editorial page. Or if you ever wondered how the United States government is a fascist empire hell-bent on world domination that planned 9/11, or why socialism is a utopian and logical idea, you will have no trouble finding someone to explain it to you in the Diag. But while campus undoubtedly has its fair share of left-wing crazies, they aren't necessarily the majority. But often, they are the loudest, most visible, and most obnoxious participants in campus politics. Take the Trotskyite radical pro-affirmative action group BAMN, which makes no mistake of their preference for verbal and physical confrontation to spread their message. The day after racial and gender preferences were ended following the passage of Proposition 2 in 2006, University President Mary Sue Coleman addressed thousands of students in the Diag. I was sporting a t-shirt superimposed with the image of conservatism itself, Ronald Reagan. To several BAMN members, this warranted verbal abuse; apparently, I am a "racist asshole." Having been born and raised less than one mile from campus helped me to prepare for the political shock I was to experience. Most of my family, friends, and acquaintances identify as liberals, so it is fair to say I was used to being in the political minority. Yet I was still surprised upon arrival to campus. I found that almost every student I came into contact with didn't have any clue what a libertarian even was, but I found that apathy, not "liberal" or "conservative," is the political affiliation of choice in Ann Arbor.
Our campus is not, as I see it, overrun by die-hard liberals. Understandably, most students don't have the time to care for politics. College life can leave you with little free time. However, there are many outlets for the conservative or libertarian on campus that wants to question the norm in Ann Arbor. Never free of controversy, the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) will surely be back with hard-hitting events. In 2006, over 300 people protested when YAF sponsored a speech by three former terrorists who spoke on the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism. The College Republicans are gearing up for the 2008 presidential election, and will be looking for new members to help elect John McCain to office. Other groups include Michigan Libertarians, Students for Life, Students for a Free Economy, and Students for McCain. Here's where we come in. At The Michigan Review, we take pride in our conservative and libertarian outlook not because we simply feel like being contrarians, but because our rational take on campus events simply takes us there. Indeed, while most of us proudly wear maize and blue and love our campus and University, there is no shortage of issues that would be misconstrued and overlooked without a conservative perspective. Conservatives challenge the status quo, and I can't stress the importance of this enough, especially in a predominantly liberal city. We are always looking for new writers, so come and stop by. Ann Arbor has an incredibly lively student body, and politics play an enormous part. It will certainly take some time to get used to if you are a conservative or libertarian. But once the shock of college life wears off, you will begin to understand the excitement of campus political life and the opportunities that it holds for conservatives and liberals alike. We hope that you take the opportunity to explore your options. Welcome to campus and go blue. MR
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