Political Affiliation

Letter to the Editor:

As a member of the Temple University family, I definitely feel it is my obligation to inform everyone else of my discomfort so that perhaps they may make attempts to comfort it. This discomfort falls under a category many of us are unfortunately too familiar with: discrimination.
I can safely assume that I am in the ultimate minority when I say I am Republican and my family voted for George W. Bush in this past election. If I would have been 18, I certainly would have also voted for Bush.
I arrived at Temple, expecting the feel of comraderie by sharing information about myself with fellow students. I attended certain clubs and seminars and freely gave my opinion and my position on their topic. And in class, I always openly express my views which tend to be parallel with Republicanism.
From each category described formerly, I have left feeling very discouraged and discriminated. It is bad enough when you are regarded negatively on the basis of what you look like or what your sexual orientation is, but I believe it is even worse when you are singled out and laughed at because of your beliefs.
Even though I describe myself as Republican, I do not believe we should run our country in a partisan manner. I simply agree with their beliefs and would like to follow their idea. I have never treated anyone differently just because they are Democrats or Independents; on the contrary, I respect these individuals for being involved politically. I do not roam around campus, spreading my ideology and trying to convince everyone to join the Republican party. I do, though, try to dispel the beliefs that Republicans are evil, narrow-minded, racist, and favor the rich. That would be the same as saying all African- Americans are lazy, all Jews are out to rob you, and all homosexuals are perverted and morally backwards.
We have organizations on campus to fight discrimination and to embrace diversity. Do not forget that accepting diversity does not only imply physical differences. It also means accepting those who may think or believe differently. Let’s try to include those people from now on as well.

Sylvia S. Kocieda
Biochemistry major
lowysr71@yahoo.com
215-777-5303