If you talked to a Greenhills student before Nov. 5, the results of the presidential election seemed like a sure thing. From discussions about “eating cats and dogs” to agreements and disagreements on political issues such as immigration and women’s rights, the majority opinion was clear: the Greenhills community did not believe in a vision of the next four years offered by former President Donald Trump. Despite this, it would not come true, Trump becoming President-elect Donald Trump at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, after the Associated Press called Wisconsin in his favor. Trump went on to win all seven swing states en route to a landmark victory, winning the popular vote for the first time in all three of his elections and leading Republicans to flip the Senate and retain control of the House. With such a massive victory by a candidate that many students had placed little belief in, the statement has to be made: The political viewpoints of those at Greenhills can not tell us anything at all on a national scale.

Part of the disconnect comes through the diversity of the Greenhills community. Greenhills has managed to assemble cultures and people from all groups, but a lack of diversity in political opinions appears regularly. Nationally, this sharing of cultures does not appear, but political opinions differ drastically throughout. According to the 2020 census, 61.6 percent of the population identifies as white. Of the voting public, that number swells to a stunning 71 percent. Of that 71 percent, 57 percent voted for former President Trump, who carried the votes of 60 percent of white men, who make up one-third of the voting population, and 53 percent of white women, who make up an even larger 37 percent of voters. Of the 29 percent of non-white voters, 64 percent voted for Harris. Looking further into this demographic, additional stunning figures are seen, such as 91 percent of Black women voting for Harris. With such massive numbers for one candidate, it would seem that those votes would carry them to the White House. However, Black women only make up 7 percent of the voting population, and 7.8 percent of the entire population. In short, there is simply not enough diversity in the American voting population and the general population to flip the scales away from a candidate that the majority of white voters wanted in office.

Another reason that Greenhills viewpoints do not match up with the outcome of the election is the massive push for college education seen throughout all grades in the school. If you walk into the 11th grade forum, you will see a seemingly chaotic mass of information about starting the college application process. Instead of a faculty leader’s office, the offices of the college counselors are instantly available for any student to receive information. In 12th grade, the first semester consists of a mad dash to perfect your applications, which is then followed with heavy anticipation to find out if you have been admitted into your dream school. However, for most of the country, the exact opposite can be found. 62 percent of Americans lack a college degree, but they do fill out their ballots. In this election, Trump carried 56 percent of voters without a college degree, who made up a stunning 57 percent of voters. Connecting back to the large margins of white voters he carried, 66 percent of white non-college-educated voters filled in a ballot for Trump. This demographic made up almost 40 percent of all voters.

The numbers don’t lie. America has forever been the great melting pot, but at the ballot box, the stirring seems to stop. Greenhills shows viewpoints from all different paths of life, but these paths converge to end at the same political stances. The main issue in believing that Greenhills politics match up with American politics at all is disregarding the white, male, non-college-educated voter. At the end of the day, this is a demographic that will not be seen at any point in the halls of Greenhills. This demographic will, however, be seen at the polling place, deciding who becomes the next President of the United States.

The next four years are shaping up to be extremely eventful. The Republican Party has been given, as Trump put it, “an unprecedented and powerful mandate” to, as he told RFK Jr., “go wild” on legislation, and they have two years until the 2026 midterm elections to push it through. A lot will change in the country, but the Greenhills demographics will most likely not. This gives community members two years to find ways to reach the demographics not seen here. If they want to truly find the opinions of the majority of the voting public, they will have to leave the halls of Greenhills and reach out to others. This is where they will find the average American, worried about the economy and their working-class job rather than how fit a certain candidate is for the role.