Letter from the Editor: Sustaining (campus) community
Editor’s Note: This piece ran in The Daily Princetonian’s Nov. 2020 print issue.
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Editor’s Note: This piece ran in The Daily Princetonian’s Nov. 2020 print issue.
Of all the phrases tossed around in the arena of politics and punditry, none brings me more bemusement than “the leaders of the Black community.” I’ve heard about these leaders in precept, in the news, on Twitter, everywhere. They are never named, nor is the community in question given any tangible bounds, which leaves my mind free to wonder: Who are they? Oprah Winfrey? Barack Obama? Serena Williams? Reverend Al Sharpton? Dave Chappelle? Lizzo? Who are the few individuals empowered to act as the singular voices of the entire Black population?
For much of the past year, COVID-19 has taken all our attention, wresting focus away from urgent environmental problems — even those that the pandemic has exacerbated. Central among them is the overconsumption of single-use plastics.
After a historic victory, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden called for unity, as Biden inaugurated “a time to heal.”
“We respect the choice of the American people,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday. “We congratulate Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.” Coming nearly a week after the Biden-Harris ticket won, China was one of the last global superpowers to recognize the incoming administration.
Upon matriculating at Princeton, I received two things in the mail: the classic black Princeton t-shirt and a copy of the pre-read, “Speak Freely.” I wasn’t the only one: the entire student body was encouraged to read the book. That’s how seriously the University takes freedom of speech — at least on the surface.
Last week, U.S. Congressman Ken Buck ’81 argued in a guest column that “divestment from fossil fuels would be a disaster,” and recommended that the University continue to “withstand [the] pressure” from student climate activists. As a proponent of divestment myself, I consider Buck’s column a win for fossil fuel divestment activists.
Monday, Oct. 12, was Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In honor of the Native inhabitants of the land that is currently known as the United States of America and in acknowledgment of the reality that Princeton’s campus occupies unceded Lenape homelands, a small group of students, faculty, and staff launched the Indigenous Studies website. For the first time, Princeton University has a dedicated virtual space for Indigenous scholarship, teaching, and research.
Though many polls predicted that President-elect Joe Biden would win the 2020 election by significant margins, the race turned out to be a nail-biter.
As I celebrate the victory of Joe Biden, I am overwhelmed with relief and gratitude that so many Americans were mobilized to vote for decency in this election. Joe Biden has surpassed Obama’s record for the most votes ever received, winning more than 74 million votes in total. Biden’s presidency marks an extraordinarily necessary mending of democracy; his overwhelming voter turnout this year reminds me that so many Americans have recognized the gravity of Trump’s dictatorial tendencies. However, it was not just Biden who achieved a record number of votes — Trump, too, surpassed Obama’s 69.5 million votes in 2008 with a whopping 70 million.
I read “What TV gets right about sex” by Andi Grene ’24 out of curiosity. I’m not a big TV person, but the cover photo was taken from “Euphoria,” a show I vaguely plan to watch eventually. While I was amused by Grene’s anecdotes of her grandmother’s horror at how “pornographic” TV has become and her personal experiences watching “Big Mouth,” I disagreed with her equating casual sex with female liberation. Any attempt to describe what everyone’s sex life should look like, regardless of whether the intention is to empower or oppress, will inevitably fall short. Any such prescription strips away agency. I will be focusing on the experiences of women in particular, but it is important to recognize that the following questions of sexual agency and choice are ones everyone grapples with.
A few weeks ago, I hustled to one of my lectures — as much as one can to a Zoom call — where we discussed ancient Chinese philosophical texts. In one of the works, there was a story about a carpenter passing by a massive, ancient tree and remarking, “It has no use; that is why it has been able to live so long.”
One Saturday in my sophomore year, I ventured all the way from my room in Whitman College to the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding (CAF) to go study with some friends. I was inconvenienced, to say the least. Walking the more than half-mile in the famously-brisk New Jersey November weather was suboptimal. But I went all the way to CAF to study because I wanted to do something that I hadn’t done since I got on campus: study in their African American study space. Once I got there, snacks and water with me as I arrived, I had an underwhelming feeling of the space.
As a young person, there is no better time to stand up against oppression than today. Here at Princeton, we demanded that racist legacy be condemned, and demonstrated that we will never settle for mediocre resolutions. We were successful in renaming Wilson College and positively redefining our narrative. First College —to be renamed for Mellody Hobson ’91 — is our legacy, and history will remember.
At a virtual town hall last month, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 stood by the University’s hardline free-speech policy, which came under fire this summer, after his administration declined to respond to instances of racist speech, citing free speech protections. If the events of this summer made clear that Princeton has failed in its efforts to combat racism and prejudice on campus, Eisgruber’s remarks only underscored this reality.
After days of waiting, the American people have elected Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris as our next Vice President. The palpable anxiety and tension from an admittedly, but justifiably, lengthy process of counting votes has been alleviated. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will be tasked with governing an economically crippled nation still in the throes of a pandemic and one that is bitterly divided politically. They will need to make their victory a victory for all Americans by uniting the country and facilitating a cooperative, principled, inclusive, and free political culture — a culture that young people like us now have the numbers and willpower to build. The days and weeks ahead will give us opportunities to shape and strengthen our democracy but only if we make crucial decisions. This path is not a given; it must be chosen.
In 2016, American Sign Language was the third most studied language in American postsecondary schools. That same year, The Daily Princetonian’s Editorial Board released this piece urging Princeton to allow ASL to satisfy the University’s language requirement. Four years later, Princeton has not budged. ASL still does not satisfy the University’s foreign language requirement.
A 14-hour time difference from Korea to Princeton is difficult, as anyone I’ve complained to about my sleep schedule can attest. Yet being an international student in the age of COVID-19 means much more than a time difference. Rather, what’s most frustrating is feeling different and oftentimes less important than our United States-based peers. The University must ensure better, equitable treatment of our international student body.
Amid one of the most historic and consequential elections in our nation’s history, it’s not difficult to justify intense political reporting. Politics regularly dominates media airwaves, for partisanship and polarization drive the most clicks, and sensationalism has taken a greater spotlight than in the recent past.
It has been eight months since we were all forced into the safety of our homes to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. A lot of things have changed since then. On the micro scale, Princeton first-years like me were welcomed into the virtual campus community and have started our journeys, we have met new people along the way, and the leaves have started falling as we welcome fall. On the macro scale, our country is going through an election, a newly appointed Supreme Court justice, and a large-scale reckoning on racial inequality. With all these things that are happening, we must still deal with the one constant affecting our lives: the pandemic is not over yet.