In terms of presidential news, this week was eventful on both a national and campus level. On Monday, President Leo Higdon, Jr. announced his retirement, effective at the end of calendar year 2013, and the following night, President Barack Obama won a second term in office.
The news of President Higdon’s retirement certainly took me by surprise. He has achieved great things for our college, things that most of us probably won’t appreciate until he has long left his office. It is strange to imagine the college without him popping up at sports events, or making the rounds of dining tables on random nights in Harris. Luckily, as he reminds any audience he speaks to, he’s not leaving tomorrow; we have another fourteen months with him, and he has an ambitious agenda to accomplish before handing us over to a new president.
Higdon isn’t the only one getting down to business. The downside to winning a second term as President of the United States is that there’s no time to take a break. We’ve got a potential fiscal cliff to negotiate and a cabinet to rearrange; Obama, too, is getting to work.
Watching Obama win four more years was by far one of my favorite nights spent at Connecticut College. Cro’s Nest was full of politically active, enthusiastic students. I loved losing my voice with all of you, as we shouted at Wolf and Anderson each time they announced those climactic CNN projections – from the moment Obama won my home state of New Hampshire, to when Maryland passed marriage equality.
Unfortunately, I don’t think everyone felt welcome at the so-called “non-partisan” event, co-hosted by CC Dems and SGA. It was very clearly one-sided; the crowd aggressively booed every state that Romney won. The atmosphere was as objective as MSNBC or Fox News coverage.
The campus is obviously predominantly liberal, so most people wouldn’t think that a pro-Obama event is problematic. However, we tend to assume on this campus that just because the CC Republicans club no longer exists, that Republicans themselves are few and far between. While it’s true that they’re not visible, some of my good friends here are politically conservative.
Throughout the campaign, the candidates demonized one another; I’m afraid that this has led us, too, to demonize friends and family of the opposite political party. In one instance last week, I told someone that half of my family is conservative. That person asked, “Do you just not talk about politics? That’s what I’d do.” The question surprised me because I actually do the opposite. Not “talking politics” during an election year would never be an option for me. I love debating with my family and friends, because differences in political disposition don’t reflect moral or value differences, as we are often led to believe through negative campaign ads. Instead, hearing the other side of things helps me fully understand the issues and usually only further confirms my own beliefs. Additionally, because I’m talking to my family and friends, arguments over political differences never come from a malicious place, but rather a desire to understand each other.
This type of good-spirited debate doesn’t happen as often these days because of the strange antagonizing effect that has polarized our country and our campus. This election season was frustrating because on campus, political activism was virtually invisible until November 6; no debates, rallies or information sessions occurred that I know of. I found it difficult to convince conservative writers to contribute to the Opinions section, and I’m sure CC Dems was hard-pressed to find Republicans with whom to debate.
That being said, the fact that Republicans on campus aren’t open about their opinions reflects more on the campus atmosphere than on their own reluctance to “come out,” so to speak. We are creating an atmosphere where a political minority on campus doesn’t feel comfortable enough to speak their opinions.
Back in 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama delivered his famous “Yes We Can” speech in good ol’ New Hampshire. One of my favorite quotes from the speech was, “We will remember that there is something happening in America/ That we are not as divided as our politics suggest/ That we are one people, that we are one nation/ And together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story.” As he delivered his victory speech four years later, the same refrain emerged, “We are not as divided as our politics suggest.”
Sadly, I think that right now, we are. Of course this political divide is exacerbated in an election year, and it’s hard to talk about a real “divide” when the split on campus can’t even compare with the split across our entire nation. Nevertheless, at a liberal arts school we should do more to encourage expression of diverse opinions; as Sports Editor Katie Karlson pointed out a few weeks ago, anything to the contrary goes against the values of our education.
So let’s stop discounting each other based on political affiliation. Rather, let’s engage in productive debates that respect opposing views, and help us better understand and argue our own. Let’s create an environment where all beliefs are powerful but not polarizing.
