My grandfather used to shout, “Last one in the lake is a Republican!” and my entire family would stampede like wildebeests towards the water. I am about as liberal as they come. But it seems to me that this campus is becoming increasingly like my favorite family vacation joke: Don’t hold conservative values, and run away from people that do.The growing amount of hypocrisy on this campus has become apparent in the way it treats non-liberal views. Guilford has prided itself on a unique culture that is supposed to be diverse and accepting of everyone and their opinions. In its attempt to be inclusive, people have become so intent on liberal views that no one can express anything vaguely conservative without being yelled at.

Just the other day in my social problems class, a boy merely had to blurt out “man of the house” to have half the class jump down his throat. After finally being able to explain himself, amidst the indignant feminist outcries, he cleared up the misunderstanding. His casual remark had to be delicately explained to avoid further conflict.

Eric Williams was merely trying to say that he supported the traditional roles in families, and that a woman should not have to raise a child by herself in poverty. “You can’t argue with the Bible, but people have many different Bibles,” he said of the responses he received. He was open and willing to discuss issues without instantly judging someone.

Another judgment was made by the Guilford community even before the person in question arrived. The college is concerned with maintaining Quaker values and principles, yet it hired a Catholic to be the president. Kent Chabotar was already under fire before he got here to start the year.

Even I made the mistake of judging him based on his religion, something that a supposed liberal would never do. “It would be nice if Guilford College didn’t care if their president was a Catholic, a Jew, a whatever,” said Chabotar at a forum earlier this year in Bryan. He seemed tired of answering questions about how he was going to uphold Quaker values even though he was a Catholic, as if his religion somehow made him incompetent for the job.

In response to the dominating liberal views expressed on campus, the Guilford College Conservative Club has recently formed. “As long as people look in our general direction, we have accomplished our goals as a club,” said Brian Person, the newly elected president. The club hopes to offer a place to express conservative opinions without judgment or stereotyping.

As I was taught by my grandfather, being a liberal means upholding the First Amendment. It means accepting different people because they have the right to be different. If this campus does not accept conservative viewpoints because they are supposedly “ignorant,” it means this campus is violating one of its own tenets.

Diversity, and the freedom to believe what you want, are a vital part of this campus. Denying others this freedom creates an environment of hypocrisy. In effect, it becomes a state of liberal fascism. If you aren’t liberal enough, get out of town.

I hope that in the coming weeks, people will realize that in order to have true diversity and true acceptance, they need to honor the opinions they don’t agree with. I may not like everything that someone has to say. In fact, I might think it is distasteful and disgusting. However, I will honor and respect that person’s right to hold and voice their opinion without jumping down their throat.