As Donald Trump continues to tweet away, my classroom experience has begun to change.

I’m in year three of college. I know that most college students are liberal. In 2017, anti-Trump feelings resonate on every campus, and that’s no different at William Paterson.

Frankly, I agree with many of my fellow classmates. I love seeing students express their rights.

I cannot say that I am a fan of professors behaving similarly in the classroom.

Far too often am I in a classroom with a professor that blatantly shares their political views,  which I think is wrong. Taking shots at Trump and saying a certain viewpoint is crazy is all fine when you are talking with colleagues, not with impressionable students.

For one, it’s an abuse of authority. Using their position as an authority figure in the classroom to share their beliefs is wrong. It isolates students as well. If there are a handful of students in a class of 20 that feel differently, you can almost guarantee that they will keep their mouths shut.

As a communications student, I have been involved in many debates at WPU. Sometimes the professor simply moderates or plays devil’s advocate for students on both sides of the spectrum, but other times, chaos ensues.

I have seen it before in a discussion-heavy class with the topic being abortion. One female felt one way while most of the class felt the other. As the class debated, things became hostile. I blame the professor because they enabled it by their careless comments about conservative ideas throughout the semester.

There are also the scenarios where professors open class with a political comment. Their students will then agree and 10 minutes of class time are wasted because they felt the need to share their political insight.

I think the best example was immediately after Trump got elected. Professors making comments like, “I can’t believe it,” or “What has this world come to?” were constant. No, I didn’t hear this in a political science class. I heard it in math class.

At times, I have been a little hesitant to share my opinion. Not because people in class will argue with me, that is completely fine, but because I might think my professor may think differently of me. If they do, or side with my classmates during a discussion, it could affect my grade, which is laughable.

Sadly, not every student feels comfortable speaking up. There are students that support the president and have more conservative views. If they have the notion that their professor disagrees with their viewpoint, they may decide to keep quiet in class. Not participating in class typically hurts a student’s grade, but can they be blamed?

I’ll take a B rather than have to deal with an adult rolling their eyes at me every week.

Not only will students keep quiet, but they may choose a paper topic or complete a homework assignment geared towards their professor’s views.

I pay thousands of dollars to go to this school to take classes, not to hear your political views, professor.