Question: If a speaker, who you believed to partake in hateful rhetoric, presented at Oakton, how would you react?

Frankie Koziol: “I would be fine with it; I’d be open to what they had to say, no matter if I agree or disagree with it. Everyone’s able to have their own opinions about certain things. You can always question it, but, at the end of the day, anyone can have their own opinions.”

Daniel Suter: “[I would do] nothing really. It’s just my opinion. Doesn’t mean that I’m right. Also, doesn’t mean other people are wrong. I would probably want to hear what he has to say, to, kind of, really get my opinion on that. Some things I used to think were actually stupid or didn’t make sense and the reverse.”

Natalia Sanchez-Anze: “I wouldn’t do anything. I believe that he has his own opinion, and we have to respect it. I wouldn’t like it if it was hateful, so I would probably be a little mad and upset.”

Alaina Sosa: “I would probably talk to a dean or somebody in a higher position because, obviously, it’s preaching hate, and I believe it to be hateful. Especially if it made me feel some type of way, I would talk to someone in a higher position.”

Aldeewan Jennifer: “I would not attend. I don’t want to hear something [where] I can’t answer back. In my country, [Iraq,] it was so hard to give your opinion in public, so I cannot stand it. I cannot stand in a place and hear something I don’t like and not respond.”

Mariam Memon: “I would be shocked. If I don’t like him, then why is he giving a speech. I would just go to the academic advisor and ask: ‘Why is he here, if I don’t want him to speak?’”