My heart started racing the moment they passed me the microphone.

It was a class seminar on the current political landscape of 2024. It was my third year at UCLA. The election results were in, and our emotions ran high. Even though I am usually outspoken, I was incredibly nervous.

My views did not align with the consensus of my peers. In a highly polarized political environment, it felt as though holding unpopular opinions meant forfeiting my right to share them.

When it was my turn to speak, I picked between conformity and my beliefs. I decided to comment based on my true opinion, and that meant saying the unorthodox.

After class, I told myself it felt empowering.

I felt confident in my message – like I could really begin to speak comfortably about the most polarizing topics.

But then a different feeling set in: isolation.

The fear of backlash is silencing students from all sides of the political spectrum and is harming our individual growth.

A Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression survey conducted of 70,000 college students in the United States found that many students oppose allowing speakers with controversial viewpoints on their campus. The survey also found that 72% of students say shouting down a speaker on campus is acceptable, and 28% of students say they often self-censor during classroom discussions.

This goes against the founding beliefs of UCLA.

Silencing debate does not protect our community – it weakens it. When we fear speaking honestly, we no longer generate genuine discussion.

According to the Dialogue across Difference Initiative proposed by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt, we must bridge divides and foster open dialogue. We should invite dissenting voices to speak and not only persuade, but be persuaded.

Benjamin Akhavan, a third-year political science student, said we should have empathy for others and students should seek opportunities to collaborate with those who differ in views.

“Educating students on how to have productive discussions, on how to react when they see something they don’t agree with, that would be very important,” Akhavan said.

When we shy away from what we disagree with in a classroom setting, we limit the possibilities that come from communicating with our peers.

“The only way for you to develop your thoughts further is by having it challenged, is by bringing in alternative perspectives,” said Anjali Khashaki, a third-year communication student.

Khashaki added that open dialogue is the foundation for the evolution of thought.

Through communicating with our peers, we begin to form new concepts, ideas and connections.

Professor David Myers, the co-director of the Dialogue across Difference Initiative and director of the Bedari Kindness Institute, said he has noticed two reinforcing trends: an unwillingness on the part of students to express their views that subject them to criticism, and a small number of students who assert their opinions loudly, knowing they will reach a wide audience.

“There has been a serious exacerbation of political – and what scholars call affective – polarization in American life,” Myers wrote in an emailed statement. “This means that disagreement can all too often turn into dislike.”

It becomes easy for us to form a habit of “us” versus “them” at UCLA, where so many groups are formed around identity.

Allowing disagreement to harden into disdain is a dangerous trend for our campus. It turns our peers into opponents and affects our ability to think critically.

Myers added that professors can help counter this trend by modeling openness to differing perspectives and cultivating classroom environments where students feel safe sharing their thoughts.

Despite the progress already made by initiatives like DaD, building a lasting culture of dialogue at UCLA requires a united effort from students and professors.

Dialogue is more than an exchange of words – it is compassion. It is an act that can fix disagreement before it turns into resentment for our peers.

I now understand that intellectual growth begins when we are willing to be uncomfortable.

UCLA’s mission calls us to do exactly that. It is only when conversation gets our hearts racing that we know we are making progress.