Members of the WSU Democrats, Tessie Violet (left) and Jude Dougall (right) hold up handcrafted posters during their protest.
With the election wrapped up, students at Weber State University wasted no time in expressing their opinions on the results.
On Nov. 15, the College Democrats at Weber State University club held an anti-Trump, pro-freedom protest in the Shepherd Union from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The club set up tables in front of the Wildcat Lanes and Games to encourage conversations and held signs expressing their thoughts on the election.
Throughout the protest, students with all kinds of different beliefs held civil conversations with the College Democrats. Although campus police were on standby, the protest remained peaceful and never got out of hand.
“We’re doing this protest so that we can spread the word and try to make it so we can mitigate the harm of the Trump presidency, not just from us talking and advocating, but we’re going to channel this energy into political power,” Ethan Bishop, president of the College Democrats stated. “We have 2 years until the midterm, 4 years until the next presidential election, and we’re starting right now.”
Members of the College Democrats at Weber State continued to affirm their intentions behind the protest was to not only educate people on their beliefs, but to better understand the beliefs of those with different ideologies.
“We’re not rioting, we’re not in the street arguing, we’re not in the street fighting anyone, we’re peacefully trying to educate people,” Tessie Violet, a member of the College Democrats, said. “We’re not pushing our agenda, but we’re trying to understand what other people’s agendas are, and why they voted for Trump.”
Although willing to hear other people out, Violet claims a major goal within the protest was to educate those with opposing views.
“The whole reason we are trying to educate people is because when you are not given the correct education, when you aren’t given unbiased information, you’re going to be in the cycle of being fed misinformation,” Violet stated.
Just a few weeks after election day, students at Weber have already begun utilizing their first amendment rights. The College Democrats at Weber State thought that the conversations between students were surely worthwhile.