Welcome to my alma mater, Colgate University, a liberal arts college in picturesque Hamilton, N.Y., where the beacon of education emanates from a golden steeple atop one of Chenango Valley’s rolling hills. Everyday, I ascend 115 feet to join the ranks filling these hallowed halls, where I learn by critical thinking and conversation – unless, of course, anyone were to say anything that challenged the way that I think about the world. If that ever happened (God forbid), I would probably just sit quietly and nod numbly until the conversation shifted to something I was more comfortable with, like the quality of food at the dining halls.
I guess you could say that I’m frustrated. See, the thing is that I care about politics. I don’t really know how it happened, because like most people, there was a point at which I didn’t care. But one way or another, it matters to me.
Now, I’m no political science major, and I’m not here to serve you my half-baked political opinions, but on the night of Nov. 5 (which was a fairly important night in politics, just in case you’re out of the loop) I was up until 2 a.m. or so waiting to see what color Pennsylvania would turn. While I waited, I walked the streets of Hamilton while alternating between checking the news and Yik Yak. I’ve been on a lot of late night walks in Hamilton, but this one was particularly eerie. I saw two people on a street corner and a subdued crowd in a bar. The only time I ever saw the town that deserted was during a snowstorm over spring break.
The situation on Yik Yak was markedly different. Yik Yak is an anonymous college-based posting and messaging app — a place to scream into a regional void. For the preceding two weeks or so, my feed had been full of political posts, almost all of which seemed to be left-leaning. Anything remotely red had been downvoted into oblivion while blue posts got hundreds of upvotes. But on Nov. 5, the tide shifted. Suddenly every successful post seemed to be pro-Trump, and Democratic leaning users were shouted down by dozens if not hundreds of voices. The situation on the app was a pretty good analogue for what was happening across the country: Democrats who felt like Vice President Harris stood a decent chance were shocked and overwhelmed as the red mirage became a red America. Blue bubbles across the country popped — and Colgate was one of them.
It should come as no surprise that Colgate has Republican voters: not only is it a primarily white institution catering largely to the top 20%, but across almost all demographics, just over half of voters voted Republican this year. And yet, strangely, every time a political conversation arises on this campus, it seems to me that the conversation is dominated by Democratic voices, which concur and then mildly move to another subject as everyone nods along.
Well, if there is anything that can be said for sure in the wake of the election, it is that the Republicans on this campus have played their hand. The influx of Republican sentiments on campus and across the country this past week have made it abundantly clear that non-Democratic voices are present on this campus, so I fear that the cowardly method of staying silent (or only speaking up on anonymous messaging apps) no longer works. So, hi, Republicans! As members of the party soon to be in power, you really don’t have anything to be scared of, so speak up! I, for one, would love to hear the reasoning behind your beliefs. And while we’re talking about it, Democrats aren’t off the hook, either. Take some time to educate yourself about what you believe in and why you believe in it, and engage in some brave conversations.
When at Colgate for her Living Writers talk on Oct. 17, Ruth J. Simmons, the former president of Brown University and one of America’s pioneering educators, said, “If you don’t want to have your ideas challenged, please don’t come to Brown. Go to Harvard instead.” If you’re a Colgate student, I assume that Harvard wasn’t an option, so you’ll have to stick with us. As this institution makes promises about Colgate’s “potential to become a national leader,” we need to decide if this is going to be a place where we challenge each other’s ideas and emerge from the fire refined and educated, or if it is going to be a place where we mildly accept the “Gentleman’s B” and count on being hired for the brand recognition of our diploma. I’d encourage you to remember that many people at Colgate complain of grade deflation and that our brand name is better known for toothpaste. It might not be the worst thing to actually learn something while you’re here.
