A conservative Cornell University student says she was harassed and threatened after she appeared on a Fox News segment last year and voiced objections to what she saw as liberal bias in coursework at the prestigious Upstate NY school.
Neetu Chandak, now a senior, appeared on "Fox and Friends" where she described the difficulties she encountered as a conservative student at the school.
During the segment, she referred to a specific course titled "America Confronts the World." She objected to the course's description, which set out to compare eight years of what it called Obama's "pragmatic cosmopolitanism" to 100 days of Trump's "xenophobic nationalism."
In a new essay for The College Fix, Chandak described the intense and often frightening backlash she encountered after her appearance.
"While I expected disagreement from many Cornellians for my views, I was mentally and emotionally unprepared for the backlash, name calling, and threats to my physical safety," Chandak wrote.
She said she received a steady stream of insults and threats after doing the interview. She also said she was being stalked, but was unsure if it was related to the interview.
She became afraid to leave her apartment, and considered dropping her classes and finishing her degree in online courses. Instead she sought therapy to work through her fear of attending class.
"Considering that Cornell University's College Republicans president was physically assaulted right after Trump was elected -- shoved to the ground and called a 'racist bitch' -- threats around here are no joke," she wrote.
"Many found it acceptable to be hateful toward me because they perceived me as hateful. What hypocrisy," she added.
"I stayed in my room for days because I wanted to avoid campus," she wrote. "Even though there were a lot of messages of support from home, I grappled with the fear of not being accepted or respected simply because of my views, of being mocked and taunted, and possibly even attacked."
She said she's speaking out again because she thinks the attitude towards conservatives on college campuses robs students of broader perspectives.
"Many people holding views similar to mine will likely not express their beliefs in the classroom or on campus out of fear of facing the isolation and threats I faced," Chandak wrote. "This becomes a disadvantage for college students as the entire point is to learn about various ideas."