Student Advocates for Gender Equality (SAGE) hosted a panel of seven students Monday night in Talley Student Union to share thoughts and feelings over the results of the recent election.
SAGE officers served as mediators between the panelists and started off by setting ground rules for the discussion: be civil, speak from your personal experiences and keep an open mind.
Renuka Gogusetti, a panelist and freshman studying engineering, expressed her concern for the state of the environmental movement under a Trump presidency.
“All the previous climate action and planning all have to change after this election,” Gogusetti said. “Now we have a much tougher opposition force to go up against and it’s very discouraging … It’s very disheartening, I thought we were making more progress and then [Trump says] to create more jobs we’ve got to delve back into the coal industry, and I don’t think that’s the answer.”
Panelist Emily Neville, a freshman studying political science, discussed what her steps going forward are after having supported Trump and McCrory in the previous election cycle.
“I didn’t really realize how much of an impact it [the election] had on some people, so I think that the biggest thing for me now after the election is to recognize things that do hurt our community and work to stand up against that,” Neville said.
Daniel Marulanda, a senior studying environmental sciences, highlighted poverty and public health as key issues that shaped his opinions on the candidates, among other things.
“The thing I’m most concerned about is Donald Trump’s plan to deport all the illegal immigrants,” said Marulanda. “I just don’t understand how he’s planning to go about capturing all of those living illegally in the U.S. It’s also interesting that Trump has targeted the Latinx community, considering that there are illegal immigrants from all over the world.”
Amal Mghazli, a Wake Tech sophomore studying political science and criminology, was frustrated about the lack of social issues Trump supporters have to deal with. The panelist expressed her concerns about the social repercussions of the election, especially as a Muslim woman.
“I really hope that a lot of people can see the privilege that they come from if they all they say is ‘I voted for Trump for purely economic reasons’,” Mghazli said. “If that’s your biggest concern, if you don’t have to worry about the effects a Trump presidency will have on your life, then I hope you see that privilege. I’m not blaming anyone, but understanding your privilege is really important.”
Panelist Hannah Fletcher, a freshman studying engineering and member of the NC State chapter of Students for Trump explained the rationale behind voting in this election for one candidate or another.
“Honestly, listening to people and hearing their perspectives is really important,” Fletcher said. “People need to recognize that there were only two choices and just because you supported one candidate doesn’t mean you believe in everything they say or support everything they have said in the past.”
Chelsea Doub, a graduate student studying educational research and policy analysis, spoke about what it will mean to be a person of color during the Trump presidency.
“The election of Donald Trump has incited in the allowance of discrimination to occur in our communities, and that is really troublesome for me,” Doub said. “Being four generations removed from slavery, having every single male in my family be incarcerated at least once, being a first generation college student, you look back on your communities and you see how everyone continues to struggle, even more so now.
Leah Block, SAGE president and a sophomore studying communication, expressed joy at the success of the panel.
“We wanted to feature students from different student organizations, different social communities, different political backgrounds to focus on fostering a sense of empathy and understanding on campus primarily,” Block said. “We don’t want to avoid the tough questions here just because they’re tough, we want to bring folks together and ask those questions so that we can work through them and find common ground, at least here on campus.”
