Marginalization and Fear? Concealed Carry and Campus Climate in the Trump Era

Since the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, the country has experienced an increase in rhetorical and physical violence against marginalized groups. While the election served as a focusing event, these under-currents have been present in the political climate for far longer, as people of color, immigrants, Muslims, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community well know. These tensions have not bypassed university campuses, which have become a focal point of conflict within the current political environment. The “Unite the Right” rally on August 11, 2017, at the University of Virginia campus, served as the prime example of contemporary white nationalism within the United States (Blake 2017). However, there have been other instances of racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia on college campuses throughout the country this past election season. Instances include a black baby doll hung by a noose in an elevator at Canisius College in Buffalo, graffiti featuring the words “#StopIslam” written in chalk in common areas at the University of Michigan, and swastikas drawn throughout a predominantly Jewish women’s dormitory at the New School in New York City (Buckley 2016; Knake 2016; Levine 2016). Rallies, references to lynching, and hate symbols are consistent reminders of the continued threat faced by marginalized groups when pursuing higher education. Alongside this increase in political tension, firearms are becoming increasingly common in university spaces. In some states, legislation allowing the concealed carry of firearms on public higher education campuses provides an added complexity to the rising tensions.¹ Supporters of campus carry policies argue that concealed weapons give students and faculty the power to protect themselves, increasing overall safety. However, others argue that the influx of weapons increases the likelihood of violence in campus spaces, fundamentally challenging the ultimate goals of academia to educate and deconstruct students’ assumptions. Further, opponents of campus carry suggest these policies significantly undercut the security of marginalized students and educators (Bouffard et al. 2012; “Common Arguments against Campus Carry” 2011–12; Fennell 2009; Webster et al. 2016).

Amid these changes, this essay explores how individuals with marginalized identities, including racial, religious, sexual orientation, and citizenship status, expect to be impacted by this policy change. Present scholarship fails to consider how these at-risk groups have been impacted by both Trump’s election and its aftermath, as well as the increasing presence of weapons in higher-education spaces. To address these questions, we conducted 16 in-depth interviews with doctoral students from marginalized populations in social science, humanities, and natural science departments at a large, public university in a Great Plains state. At the time of the fieldwork, the institution was preparing to implement campus carry policies.² In the interviews, respondents shared their perspectives on the forthcoming policy, campus climate, and the broader political context.³

Of the 16 participants who self-identified as members of marginalized groups, nine self-labeled as racial or ethnic minorities, two as religious minorities, five as members of LGBTQ+, and six were international students. Overall, members of these groups expressed great disappointment over the election of President Trump and reported feeling uneasy and concerned over the growing violence and tension in their community. Devin,⁴ a queer graduate student, spoke of the aftermath of the 2016 national election as alarming for those likely to be targets of violence, sharing her own personal fears in the current political climate:

It is the particular population that the [election of Donald Trump] seems to have spoken to and empowered that I’m afraid of personally. I don’t trust them. I’m far more fearful for my neighbor in every sense. . . . There’s a lot of tension in this country right now. . . . A lot of people are fit to pop, so to speak.

When discussing campus climate in the first months of the Trump presidency, several participants also referred to campus carry policies as a factor that would further impact students’ safety. Alice, a Jewish graduate teaching assistant in the humanities, discussed the compounding impact of inflammatory rhetoric and concealed weapons on...