Now that classes are in full swing, some students at Gustavus Adolphus College have been hearing professors discuss important current events. In particular, professors have been discussing the significance of America’s involvement with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) during classes in an effort to inform students about what is going on outside of campus.

“I brought up ISIS in class because it is my role as a professor to inform people about what is happening in the world. When our country decides to go into strategic airstrikes against a group we identify as terrorists, we need to know why that is happening. We need to know if we agree with it or disagree with it. The only way we can do that is if we know exactly what ISIS is,” Professor and Chair in Communication Studies and Professor in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Leila Brammer said.

Very few students are educated on the situation, and are left misunderstanding why the situation should matter for students at a Minnesota private college.

“I feel as though many college students aren’t educated on what is going on in the real world. We students get busy with homework, jobs, and our extracurriculars. We sometimes feel that we can’t keep up with everything going on because we lack time to read an article or watch the news,” Senior Psychology Major Elizabeth Best said.

In an article published by the Daily Caller on Sept. 15, 2014 college students were the center of attention for not only misunderstanding the entire situation, but also supporting ISIS in a petition.

Media Research Center TV reporter Dan Joseph went to the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia on Thursday, Sept. 11, and collected a dozen signatures from students on a petition. The document was addressed to Obama requesting to stop bombing on ISIS, as well as actively supporting the terrorist group that had recently beheaded two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

In another article published by The Blaze, it was noted that people signing the petitions did not understand, nor did they care about what they were supporting. Some of them signed it to avoid saying no, or because they were uninformed.

Joseph convinced students that if they supported ISIS instead of bombing them, they could avoid war, stating that they are “just like us—only with slightly more beheadings.”

Before providing their signature, a confused student asked, “They’re the ones that keep beheading us?”

Joseph does not actually support the terrorist group, but was trying to prove a point.

Another female signing the petition stated, “Every religion has their moments… I mean, come on, we can – don’t even get me started where the Christians used to, uh, what they did to the non-believers once upon a time.”

In addition to the students that were uneducated about ISIS, there were a few that were aware of the nature of the Islamic State and the beheadings, and adamantly refused to support ISIS. These students were shocked by the request and some expressed that they were ashamed of their classmates for their unfamiliarity with the topic, and ignorance for signing the petition.

The point is that in a college setting students seem to struggle to understand what is going on outside of the environment they are currently living in.

“I feel that Gustavus students have a general idea about what is going on in the world, but I feel that we can do a better job of being educated on current events. We tend to be confined to news that is happening just on “the hill”, so we tend to tune out current events,” Junior Communication Studies Major and Political Science, Sociology/Anthropology Double Minor Adrienne Gruenes said.

Gustavus offers students ways to learn about what is happening outside of campus. There are also many other alternatives for those that have a hard time keeping up with current events.

“There are many ways to get news. It may be easier to get it online. Checking our newspapers or social media sites can be useful. It’s a helpful way for me to keep up with what is happening in the world. It may even be easier for people to listen to the news while they work on other things,” Brammer said.

Gustavus offers students a liberal arts education with high standards of teaching and scholarship. The curriculum educates students on not only their area of study, but additional perspectives as well. Being able to understand what is going on in the real world is important for students and will become increasingly important after they graduate.

“When our country decides to go into strategic airstrikes against a group we identify as terrorists, we need to know why that is happening. We need to know if we agree with it or disagree with it. The only way we can do that is if we know exactly what ISIS is.”—Leila Brammer

“I do think it is an important part of being a college student: applying things you learn in class to what is going on in the world,” Brammer said.

-Haley Bell