Hello,
I am writing to The Advance-Titan as a proud alumna as well as someone who is an advocate for the democratic ideals that UW Oshkosh taught me to cherish.
While I am new to UWO as an employee, I just graduated from here in May with my Sociology degree and Public Administration emphasis. As a recent graduate of UWO, I feel it’s important to reflect on last week’s tragic events and their implications for our campus community. When someone exercises their right to free speech and pays with their life, we all lose something fundamental about what it means to live in a democracy.
During my internship at UWO with The Whitburn Center, I worked closely with WisACT where I focused on bridging political divides and creating healthy political conversations. I learned that our democracy depends not just on our right to disagree, but on our commitment to protect that right for everyone, especially those with whom we disagree most strongly. What happened last week is political violence, plain and simple.
It’s sickening and heartbreaking as it attacks the very foundation of civil society. When we allow political differences to escalate to violence, we don’t just harm individuals, we actively destroy democracy itself.
Consistency in our values demands that we reject violence, regardless of who is targeted. Violence is violence, whether it targets a conservative commentator, state representatives in Minnesota, communities experiencing gun violence, the civilians in Gaza or vulnerable populations facing systemic harm. If we truly believe that political violence is wrong, and that any violence is wrong, we must apply that principle universally.
A person is a person, regardless of their political affiliation. Charlie Kirk was a husband and father, someone’s son, friend and colleague. His political views, whatever you thought of them, didn’t make him less deserving of safety, respect or life itself.
On our campus, we have an active chapter of Turning Point USA. I want these students to know that they are an integral part of our community, as much as anyone. To all our student groups, including Turning Point USA, College Democrats, College Republicans, Progressive Coalition, Pre-Law Society, Political Science Student Association and Oshkosh Student Government, I want to be clear: I rebuke this political violence, and as a member of this community, I want these students to know that I have their backs. Students need to know that a radical act of violence is not the norm for this community. I believe we must continue to be a model for civil discourse, and I want to hold up our campus as a shining example.
We’re living in a time when our political conversations have grown more heated and divisive. Too often, we’ve begun treating fellow citizens as enemies instead of neighbors who simply see things differently. But violence is never the answer. It doesn’t advance ideas, it silences them. It doesn’t create positive change. It only brings chaos.
If we truly believe in democracy, we need to recommit ourselves to protecting free speech for everyone, not just those who share our views. We need to engage in honest conversations, even when they’re difficult. We MUST reject all forms of violence as a way to advance political beliefs. And most importantly, we need to remember that people across the political divide are human beings deserving of basic dignity and safety.
Some suggest that the America we dreamed of is gone, but I fundamentally disagree. The America I believe in, one where we can disagree passionately yet still see each other’s humanity, and where we protect each other’s right to speak even when we hate what they’re saying, that America isn’t gone. It’s being tested, absolutely, but it’s not lost.
Every time we choose dialogue over violence, every time we extend basic human dignity to someone whose politics we despise, every time we engage in good faith conversation despite our deep differences, we’re proving that the ideals we aspire to are still alive. They’re fragile, and they require our active protection, but they’re not dead.
Our democracy is facing dark times, but our collective response to last week’s tragic event, how we choose to move forward, will determine if we live up to the America we say we believe in
I refuse to let violence have the final word in our democracy. We owe it to ourselves, and to the memory of ALL of those we’ve lost, to do better.
