By Anouchka Ettedgui, Staff Writer
College is supposed to be about open minds, not closed mouths. It should be the place where ideas are tested, challenged and sharpened, not silenced. Sadly, that ideal is not always the reality.
My whole life, I grew up in schools where being a Republican or conservative was considered wrong. If you spoke up in class, you were quickly shut down, and if you wrote something your teachers didn’t agree with, you risked getting a failing grade or even being called into the administrator’s office. But I was never the kind of person to stay quiet. I challenged my teachers, questioned their “facts” and called out their biases. I lost friends, I faced insults, and I often felt isolated. But in the process, I gained something far more valuable: a voice.
I became the student who spoke out for those too afraid to. I had the hard conversations, I took the heat and I learned how to stand firm in what I believe. That experience shaped me into someone unafraid of disagreement.
When I came to Yeshiva University, I was excited to study under a new group of educators. I had heard stories of students failing papers because of their opinions, but rather than letting that intimidate me, I felt motivated. I wanted to learn from professors with different perspectives. I wanted to experience the clash of ideas that college is supposed to provide a space for.
Some professors lived up to that ideal, bringing in current events, encouraging open discussion and allowing students to develop their own views. But others proved disappointing. They shut down opposing voices, taught skewed statistics and created assignments where only one political party was portrayed positively. Republican students were made to feel ashamed of their beliefs. That’s not education, that’s indoctrination.
This isn’t high school anymore. College is supposed to train the next generation of thinkers, leaders and problem-solvers. But when professors use their classroom to push a single perspective, they fail their students by persuading rather than educating. A professor’s role is not to tell students what to believe; it’s to provide the tools, the facts and the space for students to form their own conclusions. If you’re teaching only your own opinions, you aren’t teaching at all. You’re preaching. And students did not sign up for that.
And the truth is, many students who aren’t politically engaged don’t know any better. They trust their professors, and too often, they’re being misled. Students should not have to fact-check curriculum during a time when education is incredibly influential on the lives of young individuals across the world. If you walk away from a class thinking you’ve been taught the truth, but what you’ve been given is just one version of events, then you haven’t really been informed. You’ve been conditioned to accept someone else’s worldview as a fact. That’s not the mission of higher education, and it’s not what students at YU, or anywhere for that matter, deserve.
But it isn’t hopeless. Every student has a voice. I learned that the hard way, but I believe it’s true for all of us. You don’t have to agree with me politically to see the value in standing up for yourself. If something feels off in the classroom, speak up. Call out professors when they cross the line from teaching facts to teaching opinions. Challenge their assumptions and don’t let them make you feel like your perspective is invalid. Professors are here to educate, not dominate.
Students often underestimate their power. We sit in the classroom, take notes and assume our role is just to absorb. But education is supposed to be a dialogue, not a monologue. When professors silence one side, it’s up to us to make sure the conversation doesn’t die. Silence is comfortable in the short term, but it creates a culture where real learning can’t happen. Finding your voice is not easy, but it’s necessary.
I came to YU to learn, to be challenged and to grow. I don’t want professors to agree with me; I want them to sharpen my thinking by presenting real evidence and fair arguments. That’s the difference between education and indoctrination. And if professors forget that difference, it’s on us, the students, to remind them.
At the end of the day, I found my voice, and you can find yours too. The classroom should be a place where all voices can be heard, not just the loudest or the most politically popular. We all have a voice. The question is: When it’s time, will you use it?
Photo Credit: Unsplash