March 21, 2025/Midnight
Erie, PA.— Gannon University is home to over 2,000 students at any given time of year. Within this student body, a variety of different people exist. We are united through our pursuit of education at Gannon University. However, our differences may lie in our ages, career choices, races, faiths, or a plethora of other things. In every aspect that we are different, there is one where we are similar. In Roundtable, we explore the similarities and differences in the thoughts and opinions of Gannon students. Elon Musk is not a new figure to the media. However, with his recent involvement in American politics, the rate at which Musk appears in the press has dramatically increased.
The currently 53-year-old billionaire has been widely criticized by some, and admired by others. Discourse around Musk has centered around his tech companies SpaceX and Tesla Motors, his position as head of the American government advisory body DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), or even for his 14 children.
This week, three students were asked about their opinion regarding Elon Musk.
Paige Rahming, a first-year electrical engineering major, states, “If I’m being honest, I think most of my opinion surrounding him would be negative.”
She goes on to explain, “The reason why I’m saying that is I understand that he’s big on space exploration, but I am from the Bahamas, and currently right now he is landing rockets in my country. Meaning, they have debris all over the ocean right now. And I mean, I do understand they said they’re going to pay for the cleanup but the reality is my country heavily relies on tourism, and obviously part of the selling point of tourism is the water and how it’s so blue, it’s so pretty, and the ecosystem, and stuff like that.”
Rahming explains, “So him landing stuff there, I’m not a fan of, because it could affect our livelihood…I honestly don’t support it at all whatsoever. I get that you need to do exploration, but at what expense, and what cost?”
She explains regarding Musk’s involvement in American politics, “In terms of the U.S. I think he has a little too much to say, especially for someone who isn’t American at all. And as someone who isn’t American, cause I’m not American myself, right. So if I was American, I would feel kind of slighted, because I didn’t vote for you, so why do you have such an opinion, and why does my president that I voted for take your advice so to heart, to the point where he really allows him to do what he wants in a sense. So, I can understand why Americans don’t like him either.”
Chloe Kassalen, a first-year in the Physican Assistant program, says, “I mean, I know he’s very rich…I don’t pay attention to it [the news] as much, but I feel like I haven’t heard the best things about him.”
She adds, “I’m not into the politics side of media, so it hasn’t shown up too much for me.”
Camryn Musser, a first-year psychology major, states, “I think he should not be involved as much as he is in politics. I feel like with this election, he kind of just came out of nowhere, and started doing a lot of things that he shouldn’t be involved in doing.”
Concerning Musk’s career and achievements in science, she says, “I feel like he is doing more advanced technology things that people seem to be interested in. Overall, I feel that some things that he does are not good for the climate, or the economy, I guess. I feel like he uses his power and his money for more negative things, in my opinion.”
Through his position in the government, his various scientific achievements, and both the fame and scandals that Musk seems to amass alongside his billions in wealth, it is likely that Elon Musk will remain a consistent figure in American news and politics.
