By Erin Elliot
Staff Writer
This October, the U.S. House of Representatives opened an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump after an anonymous White House whistleblower revealed evidence of a “quid pro quo” between Trump and Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump apparently withheld crucial military aid to Ukraine unless Zelensky announced a public investigation into Trump’s political rival Joe Biden.
As a college campus, Sewanee has a diverse range of attitudes and opinions regarding these proceedings, and its students have been more than happy to share a widely-varying range of commentary both on the impeachment investigation and on Donald Trump himself.
“Personally, I don’t fully understand the impeachment process or the full extent of the crimes being considered,” says art major Kara Adams (C’21). “I will say that there is certainly a lack of dialogue on campus about it. I don’t mean––or want––a party-affiliated discussion, but one focused on educating the student body about exactly what is happening. I think everyone is too afraid of offending others or of being offended to have a factual conversation about the issue at hand.”
Some students have been more assertive about what exactly they think of President Trump. When asked about the impeachment, biology major Lillian Fulgham (C’21) simply stated, “It’s taken this long?”
Most other interviewed students, however, are cautious about putting their political opinions in writing, and would rather be anonymously represented. Their attitudes concerning the impeachment of Donald Trump are recorded here:
“I do not dislike [Trump] nor do I agree with every policy that [Trump] puts out, but I have faith in our Constitution’s legal proceedings, and that if any wrongdoing has occurred, it will come to light by way of these impeachment proceedings.”
“Peaches are incredibly yummy, and putting them on trial is an awful thing to do.”
“I’m not sure removing Trump will allow America to fully stop the true threat the Chinese Communist Party poses to the free world. He has the gumption to stand up to their tyranny and economic extortion.”
“If [Trump] has been doing it dirty to Sleepy Joe by way of the Ukrainians, then he’s gotta pay up.”
“Isn’t it a little fishy that we went from the Russia investigation to a Ukrainian one? It’s like the libs looked on the map and said, ‘Alright, how are we getting this Cheeto out of the White House now?’ And one person turns the globe in the corner of the room half an inch away from Russia, and says, ‘I’ve got it! little Rus- I mean Ukraine…’”
“Impeachment doesn’t mean removal from office, and we all know he doesn’t have the guts Richard Nixon did to step down.”
“It’s boring because it’s just a bunch of people being angry over who’s in charge, and they’ve been doing that since Washington died.”
Clearly, students on campus have a wide range of not only political opinions but of attitudes concerning the gravity of impeaching a U.S. President, and––as Adams suggests–– we would do well with an accessible outlet through which regular Sewanee students would be able to debate and discuss issues this important in our current political climate.