The polarization in the country is very easy to understand, and I want to outline how I see it happening in academia. I see three things happening: 

1. Fear of change creates a sense that things need to stay in place or go back to how they were (this is maga, the far right). 

2. Believing immediate change is the only antidote common sense is forgotten and often somewhat extreme (to sometimes very extreme) policies are put into place (this is the far left). 

3. Then, both factions push against each other. 

In addition this, there is a fourth factor that exacerbates it all: 

4. The internet and media have their agendas and biases. Algorithms on social media excacerbate rhetoric on both sides; media plays to their own agendas and audience. The result is that neither side can hear each other. Thus, extreme policies are put into place in college campuses, whereas in state governments legislators try to restrict those polices. Both sides dig in. 

By way of example, take DEI initiatives: this is a good-intentioned idea, to make campuses and workspaces more inclusive to minorities. Of course there would be pushback from the right: that guy just got a job because of his identity. That could be foreseen. The right would dig in in this particular way, which of course is an ugly point of view. What couldn't be foreseen was that DEI has begun to homogenize campuses even more ideologically speaking: while diversity regarding identity alone has improved, diversity regarding ideology has declined on college campuses. That's one. Two, and the point Jon McWhorter often makes, is that such initiatives, when they go too far (there are examples of these but I'm not going to bother to link them here) can make bipoc students feel as though they are there not necessarily through merit (many students have imposter syndrome already), that they might be a token of some kind. Basically, my argument, is that a lighter hand is needed. Unfortunately, right now, that lighter hand doesn't exist in this country. The question is can a calmer, less outraged point of view, from both sides, exist? 

It should be totally acceptable that workplaces and campuses diversify, but also let's not tokenize or coddle anyone. 

Diversity of ideological point of view should be a consideration in DEI training/initiatives too. That could be surprisingly helpful. 

I see no reason for everyone to have to conform to the announcement of pronouns. If a faculty member or student wishes to make that available, that's totally fine and needs to be respected, but otherwise, common sense often makes good sense, and you'd probably get less pushback from the far right.