A month has passed since Barack Obama was voted the 44th president of the United States, and some Democrats on campus are still smiling about it. The Democratic victory has added a extra skip in the step of Junior Philosophy Major Shane Jensen. He said, “It’s such an exciting prospect to think that Obama will embody the change and passion of our generation.”

Yet, there are two sides to every story, a counter argument to every argument, an elephant to every donkey. In the wake of the election, conservatives on campus continue to assert themselves in a variety of ways.

The political game is not always partisan, and there is a distinction between Gustavus conservatives and the College Republicans. While the former is a set of values and beliefs that drive certain groups on campus, the College Republicans are a recognized student organization that promote Republican ideals and work to elect candidates. While some conservatives are part of the College Republicans, others express their views in other venues.

“[Our] main goal is to get Republicans elected into office. We are active at working on campaigns and advocating the conservative principles on campus and bringing in different speakers,” said Senior Political Science Major Carla Shutrop, the current chair of the College Republicans. Shutrop explained that three years ago, the College Republicans were rather dormant on campus, meeting only twice a year. Since then, Shutrop has contributed to the organization’s revival.

Shutrop’s involvement with this group has not been a walk in the park. From difficulty organizing membership to campus resistance, she said she has met challenges. “Given that conservatives are less likely to be open about their ideas and principles, it’s hard to get a good group of active members,” Shutrop said.

Senior Accounting Major Andrew Evenson is a member of the College Republicans and enjoys the benefits. “I like to talk to people my age about the issues that concern them and why I believe that the conservative views may be a better fit for them, or that they should at least give them a chance.”

Yet, not all Republican students join the College Republicans. Such is the case for Junior Spanish Major Hannah Davidson “I feel that politics is a private matter,” she said. “I do have a few Republican friends I talk to, but I’m not too comfortable talking about politics outside of my family.” Junior Political Science and Communication Studies Major Amber Hanson considers herself a Republican but does not participate in the College Republicans, partially because of the labels associated with the group.

“There are people who view the extreme positions that some people hold in the [College Republicans] and have taken that as what [all Republicans] think. It is just hard in a political organization to have a central viewpoint because everyone’s opinions will differ,” she said. Senior Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies and History Major Jill Suurmeyer believes that much of the campus views the extreme members of the College Republicans as the norm because of past actions by the group.

“I am a little frustrated by the speakers that the [College Republicans] have chosen the past few years. They just make liberals on this campus have a very extreme view of conservatives, and that feeds into this divide between conservatives and liberals.” Sophomore Psychology Major Paul Huff has similar feelings about the speaker the College Republicans hosted during the 2008 Nobel Conference. “The Evolution Exposed Lecture … was another poor judgment call. It was more religious in nature than political,” he said. “It suggests all Republicans are creationists.”

Evenson explained that within this group there are a number of differing opinions, and while an extreme Republican position is present, equally present is a moderate Republican voice. “I don’t know where you define moderate, but there are people in the College Republicans who are liberal on one issue, but vote Republican because [what] is more important to them is the issue they agree with Republicans [on],” he said.

Jensen realizes that while extreme opinions are often the most controversial, every organization has many perspectives. “We shouldn’t forget about the people in between the two extremes of the political spectrum because it seems that the outliers are the ones that are getting the attention when the people swimming in the middle may want their voices heard as well.”

While Republican students hold views across the spectrum, those leaning farthest to the right often receive increased attention. “There are a lot of conservatives on campus. I don’t think they are as much [of] a minority as they think they are, … But there are a small few who are very vocal and spark a lot of controversy,” said Huff.

One such example of controversy occurred earlier this fall, when Sophomore Phil Cleary organized a group to create the White Heterosexual American Male (WHAM) Scholarship. This initiative has no official club sponsorship, and the scholarship money is a pool of funds from interested students. Cleary explained that he intended to “make fun of scholarships that are like this one but directed to different demographics. It’s clear that the WHAM is controversial if taken wrongly. My goal was to point out, ‘Hey, if this is offensive, why isn’t another scholarship pointed toward another group [offensive, too]?’”

While organizers were hoping to criticize Affirmative Action, they also wanted the WHAM Scholarship to be an actual award.  “Real money, real awards, real applicants,” Cleary said. He passed out applications and posted one on Facebook. He explained that there is a scholarship review board that selected a winner—who has yet to be notified—to receive a one hundred dollar award.

Cleary intended for the scholarship to spark discussion. He said that often we assume “that we can classify people by certain characteristics and then assume they all share the same experiences. … I think there are certainly students in [the WHAM demographic] that do [feel discriminated against]. I have been not treated well because of my values and beliefs,” he said. Some students find it difficult to understand the reasoning behind this award. “The scholarship just seemed somewhat offensive,” Huff said. “It made the WHAM demographic seem more needy and self-absorbed … and it’s just unfair to say, ‘oh, we need special attention.’”

Suurmeyer reacted similarly when the scholarship was brought to her attention at an I Am We Are event. She said, “knowing the journeys of people in I Am We Are who are not [white, heterosexual, middle-class Americans] and understanding that some of them do need extra financial assistance because they have had tougher lives because of some of the obstacles that have been put in the way—institutionalized racism, sexism, heterosexism,” made it difficult to accept Cleary’s justification.

“It just seems ridiculous that people don’t understand that discrimination still exists in the U.S. If you want to make a difference on this campus, why don’t you try doing it in a constructive manner and not just inciting anger?”Current Co-President of the College Democrats, Senior Political Science Major Kacy Wothe, said that the WHAM scholarship would make a more constructive impact if discussed in a productive manner. “Awareness is great, but it has to lead to something. And I just don’t know what they were trying to lead to with that,” Wothe said. Cleary said, “I know people who have been talking about it, but I don’t know what they have been saying. I don’t know if they are upset or not; I hope they are not—that is not the point,” said Cleary.

A new conservative organization, Gusties for Restoring America (GRA), gained recognition this fall. The group formed to promote conservative values. “It is a non-partisan, non-profit, non-political organization. The purpose of it is to give students a place to go where they can understand the conservative world view and the values that it stands for,” said Cleary, who co-founded GRA with Sophomore Political Science and Religion Major Sean Tessmer.

According to the club’s statement, “The founders believed that many of their classmates had a fundamental misunderstanding of the conservative movement and the history of the free world.” The club aims to recruit and mobilize like-minded individuals to serve as spokespersons for the conservative movement, place them into positions of leadership on campus and prepare them for a life of service to America.”

GRA was recently denied admission to the Diversity Leadership Council. Wothe says this decision was made solely because presenters appeared unprepared during their presentation and lacked a clear plan to achieve their goals. GRA was asked to apply again with a revised constitution and delineated plan demonstrating how they would contribute to the council.

Participation in the College Republicans and new groups like GRA allow conservative students avenues to express their beliefs. Yet, many conservative students are wary to raise that voice on campus. “A lot of people don’t express their views [because] they feel like they do get attacked for what they believe,” Shutrop said.

Hanson recalls witnessing an example of this on Nov. 3, 2008, when students washed off chalk-drawn messages encouraging Republican voting. “I know there were some incidents where the chalking was really controversial, but this was just a “Vote McCain” chalking. It was just disheartening to see that there can only be one viewpoint on campus,” she said.

“For a college that prides itself on being tolerant of other viewpoints, it sure seems like the tolerance is not always extended to individuals who the majority disagrees with,” Cleary said. “I feel like we do get treated differently than College Democrats, and in classes it’s harder to speak your opinion when you are conservative because you know you are outnumbered,” said Hanson. Davidson also feels student disapproval in his party affiliation. “I’m definitely aware that I’m in the minority here. Many times, when people find out I’m a Republican, I get a horrified, ‘Why?’” she said.

While these students feel uncomfortable as members of a party in the minority at Gustavus, Cleary says that some conservative students feel overt discrimination. “When I was tabling on Election Day someone crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it in my face. With GRA, we started hanging signs around campus to promote our club once we were recognized, and in one dorm alone we had 11 signs defaced,” he said.

Evenson, however, has not experienced discrimination. “I’ve never really felt that way. It’s easy to feel victimized, but when people actually express themselves honestly, I think you will find most people respect you,” said Evenson. However, Suurmeyer believes this discrimination works both ways. She recalls an instance when a friend and Gustavus student was treated in what she felt was a hostile manner by a member of the College Republicans because she was not a U.S. citizen.

“If you are going to approach people in that manner … you are going to get paper thrown at you and comments said about you. If you are going to push people in non-productive manners such as the WHAM scholarship, you have to expect to get an emotional backlash from that.” Wothe respects diversity of opinion, but feels there is are constructive ways to express beliefs. “Stunts like the WHAM scholarship are a completely irresponsible way of putting their viewpoint out there.”

Shutrop emphasizes that the College Republicans make it a priority to “help people understand that … hate doesn’t have any place in our agenda either—that is not part of who we are or what we stand for.” Throughout her time with the College Republicans, Shutrop said her primary goal is to ensure Gustavus is an environment where “anyone could speak freely on this campus … [where] everyone can express their views and nobody gets attacked for what they believe.”

“It’s all labels, even saying you are a campus conservative or campus liberal, Democrat or Republican: every one of those people is completely different, and you really don’t know anything about that person until you talk to them about things—no matter what they say their label is,” said Evenson. For him, students must go beyond a label that could be slapped onto a can of Campbell’s soup or a Mason jar to discover what unique beliefs individuals hold.