OPINION: Alumnus asks, is Ohio University a liberal echo chamber?

Photo via: Orchysterium/Public domain/Wikimedia Commons

Dylan DeMonte is an alum of Ohio University, a former member of Ohio U’s Student Senate and a bi-weekly opinion columnist for The New Political.

It was the fall of 2021, and the Ohio University Student Senate was debating student support for the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. The conclusion to this argument, as many others, seemed a done deal, with almost every person in the room poised to favor the mandate—except for one. A lone voice of dissent, who spoke for some time, and then the vote moved forward. Also in the room, one student, who had privately shared his opposition to the mandate with friends, sat in silence. He didn’t speak up. He wasn’t anti-vaccine, but he felt the mandate was equivalent to government overreach, that students should make their own health decisions. Still, he stayed quiet and voted affirmatively, not because he lacked conviction but because, in that room, dissent felt like challenging a social norm.

This scenario, likely similar to ones played out countless times, raises a few critical questions: Does the social climate at Ohio U create a situation where liberal viewpoints dominate and make it exceptionally challenging for conservative voices to be heard? If so, does that make Ohio U a liberal echo chamber?

For the sake of analysis, let’s define an "echo chamber" as an environment that continually reinforces a dominant set of beliefs, and dissenting views are either suppressed or drowned out purposefully.

In the most relevant empirical evidence, Ohio U represents about the average among 257 of its peers in free speech on campus. According to recent data from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Ohio U ranks 111th for comfort in expressing ideas and 107th for openness. Notably, 39% of students report self-censoring at least once or twice a month, reflecting the level of hesitance to voice certain opinions. Politically, the student body heavily leans liberal, with about 1.84 liberal students for every conservative. While this indicates a skew toward progressive viewpoints, a liberal majority alone doesn’t necessarily create an echo chamber. Instead, we must look to the broader social environment, which may pressure students into conformity, that shapes the campus discourse.

So here’s the deal: A place can become an echo chamber when all people let popular assumptions preclude personal critical judgments in the name of social acceptance. The problem lies less in the institutional policies and more in the social dynamics at play. It could very well be true that many students feel an unspoken pressure to "go along to get along." A student may remain silent on controversial issues, not because they lack the ability to argue their stance, but because they fear being ostracized by their peers.

But silence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. When dissenting voices fail to speak up, the majority assumes that everyone agrees, or, at least, that the dissenters are the “other,” few and far between. The majority’s assumptions lead to intellectual laziness; one begins to feel that their views need no justification when they are never seriously challenged. Political discourse can only add value to a college campus if one side is willing to listen to dissent and consider the potential costs of their own positions.

Consider the recent national discourse around issues like climate policy. It might be easy to support aggressive reductions in carbon emissions if all your friends are doing so, but few stop to acknowledge the costs: economic disruption, job losses in specific sectors, or the potential burden on low-income communities. On the other extreme, being a contrarian for the sake of "owning the libs" adds no value to the conversation. Simply opposing progressive policies without offering justification doesn’t push the conversation forward.

At Ohio U, the social dynamic is no different.

But Ohio U is not an echo chamber. Yes, the student population leans liberal. Yes, students probably feel social pressure to conform to majority views. But that does not mean the community purposefully suppresses dissent. If someone wants to argue that higher education as a whole is an echo chamber, as some have, that's a fundamentally different assertion. But if the claim is that Ohio U is a unique or especially harsh environment for conservative students, the evidence for that is speculative, sparse, or weak. There are numerous examples of conservative students speaking out on a variety of issues, including within the student government. In fact, during my time there, conservative voices were not just present but sometimes held significant leadership roles.

Nevertheless, if students feel constant pressure to conform to majority views rather than engage in open dialogue, the prevailing discourse risks becoming an intellectual disaster.

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.