This is an opinion column by Wisconsin college student Jenna Piwowarczyk.
As January brought on a new semester for college students, so with it came a new era of America under President Trump.
In the past two years, even students who were apolitical or politically illiterate could feel heaviness in the air. Whether it was grocery store conversations about rising costs or my friends asking about the latest young woman to be killed by an illegal immigrant – and if they should be worried – politics began seeping into the lives of every college student. Now, a month into the new Trump Administration, every day brings better and better news for college students.
For female college students, the wins keep coming. A best friend of mine completed her freshman year of college at UW-Whitewater in Whitewater, Wisconsin. In the last two years of the Biden presidency, Whitewater saw a migrant surge of 1,000 migrants from South and Central America to the college town of only 15,000 people –making up 15% of the total population.
Stories like Laken Riley’s and Kayla Hamilton’s were coming out around the country, and my friends were nervous about staying out late or being alone outside. Now, that same best friend of mine who rarely watches the news, is glad to see President Trump is taking our border security seriously and cracking down on illegal immigration.
It’s common sense for students that if they pay taxes and tuition for schools, the least that should be guaranteed to them is safety. Now, college women everywhere know that safety is becoming more real.
Another win for female college students? The Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports executive order. Gender issues in sports began at the college level when Lia Thomas, a biological male, took first place in a swim competition over Riley Gaines.
We know some students identify as transgender competing in the opposite sexes’ sports, giving competitors unfair advantages and even posing a threat of physical harm to competitors. It’s a great day for conservative women everywhere who know that their rights are finally being prioritized over a man’s feelings, thanks to the Trump administration.
College students like President Trump, period. He received 46% of the Gen Z vote, which was a 36% increase from the previous election. Considering that the youngest generations always lean to the hard left, his success with our generation is staggering.
A post-election survey found that 58% of Gen Z men, aged 18 to 27, reported voting for Donald Trump. This is the first time a Republican candidate won the majority of young men since George H.W. Bush’s election 36 years ago. What is driving this shift in young men? Republican leaders and conservative political influencers cite the crisis in America to be the left’s “war on manhood.”
Increased liberal feminism has resulted in troubles dating, isolation, and mental health problems among men. When, in the Spring of 2024, college frat members at the University of North Carolina held up the American Flag in protection against pro-Palestinian protestors, it was symbolic of the new era of conservative young men.
The bottom line is that college students are thriving under President Trump but also thriving after the end of the Biden-Harris administration. The pendulum has swung in America, and college students are the driving force.
