Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 general election marked the end of one of the most contentious political election cycles in recent history.
The race was defined largely by division, and even at its conclusion, one thing that supporters can agree upon is fear.
For more liberal-leaning students, their fear revolves primarily around the preservation of certain freedoms and ways of life under a Trump presidency.
"I think what's next overall is preparing for the worst to happen and just getting ready to fight for the next four years, while also building to block things that can happen," said Anna Hernandez, an Arizona State Senator for District 24 at a Young Democratic Socialists of America meeting on campus.
Key members of left-leaning organizations at ASU are bracing for the fallout of Trump's presidency and emphasizing being proactive.
"We know that Donald Trump is saying he's going to try to do massive deportations. So instead of waiting for that to happen, we need to start preparing for that," said Bryce Askew, a chair member of YDSA at ASU. "How are we going to defend community members? How are we going to defend undocumented students?"
Beyond immigrants, students identified other minority groups with increased tensions due to the results of the 2024 election.
"I think the LGBTQ community does have a lot of valid fears, frankly, under the Donald Trump administration," said Carson Frizzell, a sophomore studying political science.
Students fear that the ability of these groups to congregate and organize would be jeopardized under Trump's leadership, in the eyes of some students.
"We need to protect each other, especially when a large part of Trump's policy is around trying to censor us and silence us and shut us down," said Sophie Levitt, chair member of Bafrayung Itst at ASU.
Liberal students aren't the only ones harboring hesitancy and anxiety regarding the current political landscape.
Before the election, many conservative students at ASU harbored fear regarding their ability to openly express their political beliefs on campus.
"I think a lot of students feel beaten down and morally pushed to their limit because they feel not safe, honestly, to express their values without ridicule from the left," said Carson Carpenter, a senior studying political science, and former president of the ASU College Republicans.
This sense of being "beaten down" prior to the election, meant that for many students on the right, the result of that night was largely a surprise.
"I was the outlier here at school, and just in a general sense. But I think the election proved that we're (conservatives) not really the minority anymore in the sense of our political views, and instead, it's those people with more hatred … that are really the smaller group in comparison," said Afonso Machado, a freshman studying political science.
However, even after the election, a sense of fear has persisted for some conservative students, in spite of the fact that Trump won by decisive numbers both nationally, and in Arizona.
The president-elect won roughly 52.2% of the vote, equating to 1,770,242 votes as of Nov. 21.
"Election night didn't really change the censorship of conservatives on campus, or it didn't change how we feel about speaking on campus," said Zachary Cejka, a junior studying political science.
Avery Toft, a freshman studying philosophy in morality, politics and law, supported Cejka's sentiments, as she explained her continued hesitance to express herself politically on campus.
"I wouldn't say I'm more inclined to share my viewpoints ... it all just depends on the setting that it's in and the setting that I would share in hasn't really changed since Trump has won," said Toft.
However, as Toft went on to explain, this reluctance to speak out for conservatives, while rooted in some social stigma, is not so much based in fear of physical violence.
"I don't think anyone would harm me for my viewpoints," Toft said.
Of course, this creates a stark contrast against the fears of liberal students, who do worry about the retaliation that their viewpoints might cause.
"I try to let them (family members) know what I'm actually scared of on campus because it's not people who are protesting for Palestine," said Levitt when speaking at a YDSA meeting.
So, although conservative and liberal students may be somewhat joined in a sense of fear and uncertainty about the current political landscape, the magnitude of those fears is largely different.
But that's not where the gap between conservative and liberal students ends; rather, there currently seems to be a fundamental gap in understanding issues and events for conservative students and liberal students.
For instance, the very causes of these fears on either side are under extreme skepticism from those on the opposing side.
Machado explained that he does not believe that the fears of students on the left are "justified" and rather views them as "very much an over-exaggeration."
"He (Trump) won by an overwhelming majority, taking both the House and the Senate," said Machado. "I think that should be a clear enough message that there isn't anything to fear, rather than their own rhetoric and their own thinking."
Again though, these viewpoints are directly contested by left-leaning individuals, who argued that the shocking support for Trump in the election was in itself something "to fear."
"The right wing is resurgent, and everybody will be under attack," said Askew. "Abortion bans, anti-LGBTQ legislation will continue to expand, as they did in the last four years."
Conservative students further addressed the concerns of specific groups in America, pointing to Trump's policies of "de-wokifying politics" as a net positive for all Americans.
"There's no minority group that's being treated differently," said Cejka. "There's no gender that's really being treated differently. I mean, that's the idea of de-wokifying America: there's no intent to really prop up or hurt any one group for any reason."
Individuals on the left though, like Hernandez, argued that the Democratic party running "too woke" was "absolutely false," and instead argued that the mainstream left should have embraced more progressive ideas, similar to what right-wing conservatives had done.
"The fringe right piece of the Republican Party — the MAGA movement — has completely overtaken the Republican Party, whereas, on the left side, the progressives and the more or less members are completely ousted from the Democratic Party," said Hernandez.
In the end, the current Democrat versus Republican divide is one propped up by fundamental differences in understanding of key facts and policies from each candidate and ideology.
Within such a sharp divide, the only area in which both sides stand on equal ground is in regard to the fear and uncertainty that their supporters carry.
"We need to brace ourselves, and it's gonna get worse," said Hernandez.
Edited by Alysa Horton, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at sluba@asu.edu and follow @samluba6 on X.
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