Kaitlyn Tambasco, Tangerine clerk

A couple of weeks ago, ESPN host Jemele Hill sent President Donald Trump a tweet calling him a white supremacist. Since then, this tweet has raised controversy as to whether ESPN should discipline Hill for her actions.

Students and staff shared their own opinions regarding this issue.

Utica College student Nathaniel Flower was first to share his views on this subject, remarking that he could write about this topic for ages.

“Donald Trump is not a white supremacist,” Flower said. “Calling him and his supporters white supremacists when they aren’t, will only make it easier for white supremacists to convince them to join.”

Flower also went on to say that words do have power and meaning.

“Calling Trump and his supporters white supremacists only softens those words,” Flower said. “Jemele Hill is part of the problem and people like her are allowing white supremacy to take hold.”

Utica College student Debra Hubbard offered her input as well.

“I don’t talk politics normally, but I believe that Trump needs to watch what he says,” Hubbard said.

Hubbard also had thoughts on the recent “take a knee,” controversy during NFL games and how it relates to this conflict.

“I think it is just his crude way of expressing his disappointment in what he believes is a lack of respect for our national anthem,” Hubbard said.

Communication Arts Professor Doug Croft looked at the issue from an industry perspective.

“ESPN is actually owned by Disney, and as such historically placed a heavy weight on political values, as well as holding sports journalists to a very high standard,” Croft said. “Considering Hill is an African-American woman, I can only imagine Jemele has not felt very re-assured about the rhetoric offered by the president since he took office. In my opinion, she did play a little chess within the limits of free speech.”

Utica College student Maggie Tabone added her take on this issue.

“I think the problem in our country is that in this social media age we live in, we have the ability to post our thoughts 24/7,” Tabone said. “Everyone needs to take a step back and put their phones down and stop tweeting our every thoughts.”

Tabone believes that technology is changing society in negatives ways and nobody has real conversations anymore.

“We have issues in this country, and they cannot be solved in 140 characters,” Tabone said. “I think we need to start having real conversations and work towards addressing these issues.”