An interview with The Statesman — Penn's conservative student news publication

In light of the sweeping Republican victory in both the White House and Congress, The Daily Pennsylvanian sat down last week with writers at the conservative student news publication, The Statesman, in order to talk politics.

College junior Maria Biery is the editor-in-chief at The Statesman. Eric Hoover, a sophomore in Wharton, doubles as the finance director and editorial editor. Wharton sophomore Adam Sherman and College freshman Daniel Tancredi are both writers for the publication.

DP: Does The Statesman have an editorial opinion of Trump?

Biery: No, because everybody in our group has a very distinct opinion on [him]. There are some people who love Donald Trump in our group. There are some people who can’t stand [him]... So we can’t take that position as an editorial board to attempt to speak for everybody.

DP: What has it been like as a conservative publication reporting on the election and on the campus response?

Tancredi: I think it’s important, since we are representing such a minority on campus, to stick largely to the facts and simply report what happens and let people take their own sides of things. This is definitely a tense time.

DP: Where do you think that tension comes from?

Hoover: Conservatives on college campuses, kind of by definition, have to walk on egg shells, [because] some conservative opinions are deemed offensive — for example, being against illegal immigration.

Sherman: I see it more with individuals shutting down conversation amongst the University... people putting up barriers to conversation rather than actually engaging.

Hoover: When you have a culture around campus that kind of prohibits certain viewpoints either directly or indirectly...everyone is expected to think the same way, and people who do think a different way are scared to come out and voice their opinions.

DP: Do you think the manner in which the media covered the election, focusing so much on the things that Trump said, may have actually helped him win?

Tancredi: Almost every time he would speak, he would talk about how he’s an outsider... [and when] inside groups, like the media, the government, like Hollywood, all came out against him, that says look, he really is not a part of these groups – they hate him.

Sherman: Trump really fed on this movement for, as Obama called it, change. Obama ran on change; Trump ran on change. And it’s this insatiable appetite for change in America that has been fueling our elections for the past decade or so.

DP: What do you view as the goal of The Statesman?

Biery: We want to open up discourse again... we really think that Penn needs that... we are going to be some of the leaders in this world, and if we can’t sit down and have a civil discussion with each other, how can we expect to have any kind of compromise?

Hoover: We also want to expose people, with our editorials, to views that they wouldn’t see otherwise. And give courage to other conservatives on campus that might be just silent about their beliefs.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.