People often speak about the dangers of echo chambers within today’s political discourse.

As an institution that prides itself on diversity and inclusion, Diablo Valley College ought to actively include conservative voices in our political discourse.

One way to do that would be for the entire community: students, faculty, administration, etc. to promote the creation of a student conservative club.

A quick look at DVCsync, the official website for student life, shows that of the five political organizations listed none are dedicated to conservative viewpoints.

Two of the organizations, “College Democrats of DVC” and “College Democrats of Diablo Valley College” appear to be duplicates, both listing the same president, Victor Tiglao.

DVC also has the “Friends of the Spartacist Youth Club,” an organization whose purpose according to its profile on DVCsync is, “to broaden the spectrum of political debate on campus by providing a forum for the views of the Spartacist League, a Marxist political organization, and its youth group, the Spartacus Youth Club.”

The closest we have to any officially sanctioned student club dedicated to conservative thought is the non-partisan club “Students for America” whose stated purpose is sharing all political viewpoints, or NORML/SSDP, which is dedicated to reforming marijuana laws and drug policy.

While it is good we have a club dedicated to including opposing viewpoints, this only provides a forum to exchange ideas.

DVC also needs a club where actual conservative viewpoints, not those of racism, bigotry or fear, can be explored. 

Conservatism should be more about personal responsibility than blaming immigrants for your problems. No matter your circumstances, they do not determine where you go, no matter what odds are set against you.

Why? Because conservative thinking has so much more to offer than what we’ve come to see it as.

A conservative club on campus would lead to more robust thinking and challenge students by exposing them to ideas they normally would never come across.

Expanding one’s horizons is crucial to the college experience. Conservative sources should have equal footing on our campus so students have the opportunity to be exposed to both sides of the political spectrum.

This would help us think of problems and issues from different perspectives.

We frequently have Mark DeSaulnier on campus, why not Republicans like Catharine Baker? 

This would be a small step in bridging the gap in today’s partisan politics.