Chan Chung

Pro-Palestine protesters across the country, including at Drexel, have been calling for their universities to divest from companies that are linked to Israel. Out of all the positions the Palestine movement could have taken, I still struggle to understand why this is the hill they chose to die on. In Civic Engagement 101, I learned that there are two ways to address systemic issues: fix the root cause or provide relief to those who are currently suffering. The protesters’ efforts do neither.

Divestment creates no net change. The process of divestment means that a university’s endowment must place a sell order for its stocks in particular companies. In order for the endowment to rid itself of stocks, someone else must buy. The harms of owning the stocks have not disappeared; they have merely shifted from one institution to another.

I am also confused at what harms there are in owning certain stocks. It is not like shareholders pay the companies they own stocks in; it is the other way around. Companies pay dividends to their shareholders. This should give the company less capital to operate in Israel, so more dividend payouts should be a good thing.

To no one’s surprise, previous divestment efforts from things like South African apartheid have failed. If someone else is willing to buy stocks, that means they believe in the corporation and have an incentive to optimize processes so that the corporation becomes even more profitable, and the industry ends up benefitting.

As a consequentialist, this reasoning and evidence is enough for me to conclude that divestment is not a moral goal to pursue. But perhaps there are some Kantians protesters out there that believe ethics should be informed by one’s intentions, not the potential consequences of actions.

Kantian theory relies on the idea of universality, meaning that the rule must apply to everyone. Something like thou shalt not lie is universalizable because it is possible for every person to not intentionally lie. Thou shalt not hold stocks in companies that are linked to Israel is not universalizable because in order for one party to sell stocks, another must buy. In theory, if everyone agreed that holding such stocks are bad, some institutions would always be morally wrong despite trying their hardest not to be because no one wants to buy their stocks.

The scale of divestment necessary also becomes a huge impracticability. Would universities have to divest from Microsoft because it provides cloud services to Israel’s government and companies? What about Johnson & Johnson which provides literal Band-aid solutions (among many other pharmaceuticals)? Their Band-aids are used to treat wounded people in both Israel and Gaza. Most large corporations, which are also the most likely corporations to have public stocks worth more than a penny, are involved in Israel in some way. Pro-Palestine protesters are asking universities to practically pull out of the entire stock market. If their demands extended beyond universities to all institutions, our financial system would simply collapse.

If divestment is ineffective, impossible and not a moral hazard, there is no reason to not let our schools benefit from their endowments. After all, endowment funds pay for many things, and a loss of endowment income would mean tuition increases. No one wants that to happen! Pro-Palestine protesters should focus their efforts on change that would actually help the people of Gaza. They could, for example, protest to stop buying bonds of companies directly supporting the war to actually restrict the flow of capital to the industry. However, that strategy may fail if it involves a boycott of Treasury bonds because they are considered the safest form of securities. Protesters could also convince their universities to use the leverage they have from being shareholders to steer companies away from Israel. After all, shareholders are the owners of a company, and shareholders get to vote on policies governing a corporation’s operations. In the long-term, protesters can call for different government policies to be enacted so that a similar situation will not happen again in the future. Whatever the answer may be, divestment is not the correct one.

On a rare morning where I’ve given myself enough time to get ready, eat breakfast, play through the suite of NYT games and still have time before I need to leave, I find myself opening a set of bookmarked tabs I like to call my personal rotation of college newspapers. I keep it generally local — most of the other Philly schools, a selection from my home state and, maybe, those of one or two schools my close friends go to across the country. I revel in the opportunity to hear the opinions and reportings of my peers, the thoughts and musings of writers I have never met, a glimpse into an experience I might have had, had I taken another path. 

But more importantly, I am grateful for the opportunity to hear and be heard, by students just like me, without barriers or filters. Our generation is the first of many to find that our largest shared social space is the Internet, primarily social media spaces, which suffer from heavy filtration and algorithms catered to keep you logged on. Classroom discussions are limited, both by the curriculum they’re meant to follow and by the rules set by the instructor on what is fair game to discuss. Outside of this, where can young students truly convene and converse? 

I’m not arguing that college student newspapers are truly the last line of defense for free speech, nor am I suggesting that the greatest philosophers of our generation can be found between these pages. However, with dwindling access to public spaces and open forums, I argue that our generation must hold fast to independent student publications. A student newspaper is not expected to follow the same guidelines that restrict major news publications, nor do they suffer from the heavy filters that manipulate online spaces. Each publication is an amalgam of the work of students at all levels. The writers, editors, photographers — they’re all your peers. This is a rare gem among people our age, and something we are not taking advantage of enough. 

At a time where we all may feel too busy and too fatigued by current events to pay much attention to anything, we forget to appreciate what’s going on outside our doors. Our generation is encouraged to disconnect from one another, but here is a golden opportunity to connect once more. These are crucial, formative years with respect to our opinions and the ways we carry ourselves. Now is the time to read and to write and to talk to one another. 

But, then again, my opinion might be a little biased.

Last week, over a billion Muslims around the globe began preparations for Eid al-Fitr, one of the religion’s biggest holidays. A long-awaited holiday celebrating the conclusion of the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset to focus on spirit and community by being God-conscious and attending communal iftars. As the holiday approaches, it is common to see members of Muslim households flock to the markets and clothing stores to not only serve good food but also look their best for the guests. As my family did the same last week, there was one worry lingering in the minds of myself and many other students: having classes on Eid.

Naturally, there was some initial confusion over which classes I would be able to miss and whether I would arrive home early enough to not miss the main event. Luckily, I was able to speak to my instructors and only had to commute to campus to take a recitation quiz. But for many others, it was not as easy. For one student in mechanical engineering, the concern was falling behind in classwork: “Attendance was mandatory for my class,” she explained. “Since it was a hybrid, missing that one day felt pretty significant to me even if it was excused.” When talks about the university’s involvement and the possibility of giving the day off came up, she brought up the idea of an official statement regarding the holiday’s recognition, “I would’ve appreciated having off on Eid or even just felt more comfortable asking to be excused with the university’s support.”

Having such a significant holiday fall on a school day puts students in a difficult position of having to choose between their classwork and their religious practices. Sure, they may be able to take the day off by requesting an excused absence from their instructors, but they then return to being behind on classwork, especially if it is for something as important as unrecorded lectures or labs that can run three to four hours long and have to be remediated asynchronously. 

Last Friday, the Drexel Muslim Student Association (DMSA) worked alongside the Middle Eastern and North African Club as well as the Saudi Student Association to host a festival for Eid. The event was held at Lancaster Walk, where various group activities such as obstacle courses, henna tables, art workshops and educational talks took place. 

The event flourished with ethnic clothing and countless “Eid Mubarak” greetings, but students did not miss the fact that the holiday was being celebrated on the wrong day. Marham Mohammad, a third-year interior design major, expressed her concerns, saying, “We’re not able to celebrate with everyone on the same day. Eid fell on a Wednesday, and we had to push this celebration all the way down to Friday, and some of us still aren’t able to attend because they have classes and quizzes.” Like other students, Mohammad shared worries about making up classwork, and she also pointed out the contrasting treatment of other holidays: “I think the university should have off. It would be different if no religion was recognized, but we get a huge break for Christmas, and Muslims have to risk falling behind and facing added stress for Eid. I think it is detrimental to students’ ability to even want to be in school.” It’s no surprise that certain religious holidays are prioritized over Muslim holidays by not just our university but many other American institutions. That should not be the case, especially since Islam is the world’s second-largest religion.

If Eid was to be labeled a university-wide holiday, students could come together to perform special Eid prayers on the official day and host celebratory events throughout campus, strengthening community involvement and purging anxiety about missing courses. With the day off, the educational aspects can also be a great opportunity for many students who may not observe the holiday to get out and let their curiosity pave the way. Of course, on-campus students can also plan trips home to celebrate with their families, knowing that they will have off instead of waiting on excusals.

Three weeks ago, I, along with many other Drexel students, painfully trudged back to Philadelphia at the end of spring break, a glorious week-long bed rot where I ate my weight in food, watched (an unhealthy amount of) Netflix shows and simply did nothing. I believe my laziness was completely warranted. The ten-week winter term, followed by an absolutely grueling finals week that ended at 3 p.m. on a Friday, took a lot out of me. So, I wholeheartedly believe that the week of spring break was absolutely necessary for me to mentally recover from the (rather traumatizing) term that had preceded. 

But alas, spring break flew by and before I knew it, I was gearing up for yet another 10-week term which will be followed by three more terms after that before I get a six-month break for my co-op. By the time I get to that point, I will have completed a total of six straight academic quarters, a reality that many of us are no stranger to. However, this raises the question: how long is long enough for our little breaks? While the irrational, bed-rot loving part of me wants to say “one month between each quarter should be enough,” the rational part of me wonders if having a few extra days of spring break at the cost of a shorter winter break will really be more conducive to preventing the burnout that I am currently experiencing. 

Drexel’s winter break generally ranges from three to four weeks. The winter break for the 2024-2025 school year is slated to be 23 days long, a little over three weeks. The spring break for the 2024-2025 school year is eight days long. However, given that we have nearly a week for Thanksgiving less than a month before our winter break, perhaps we could benefit from stealing some of those winter days and adding them to our spring break. Studies have shown that a two week break actually increases engagement with work and decreases levels of burnout. So perhaps we really should consider adding a few extra days, or maybe even a week between our winter break and spring term. Especially since Drexel, unlike some of the surrounding universities in Philadelphia, are starting the break fresh off final exams, adding an extra week may really be more conducive to happier and more productive students in the long run. 

Moral of the story: more spring break is better. But hey, maybe I am biased.

On Monday, March 11, The Triangle reported that resident assistants at Drexel University announced an official petition to form a union. This is the first of several steps to ultimately form the first student employee union at Drexel.

In a previous issue, The Triangle detailed how Drexel treats its student employees as second-class. RAs described how Drexel fails to recognize the time and commitment required to be an RA and lacks transparency around employment practices. 

With exhausting duties like unpaid training activities, holiday shifts, showing Public Safety how to run the desk at night, overnight 12-hour shifts on weekdays and 24-hour shifts on weekends staying chained in the residence hall, RAs feel that their current $100 pre-tax monthly stipend and partial meal plan ($355 stipend but no meal plan for Stiles Hall RAs) do not fairly compensate them for what one RA, who asked to remain anonymous fearing employer retaliation, described as an approximately 30-hour work week. 

Job security is also a concern because RAs are not guaranteed to have their employment contract renewed each year, which creates uncertainty about their housing situation and livelihood. A union is the only way for RAs and other student employees to secure permanent and meaningful change on these workplace issues.

Unions provide several unique protections for employees. There is strength in numbers, and unions force employers to engage in collective bargaining, which means employees can jointly  negotiate for better working conditions without fearing individual repercussions for asking for more . When employers become unreasonable or bargain in bad faith, federal law allows union members to seek relief from the National Labor Relations Board or go on strike. The right to strike is protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Employees facing disciplinary action have the right to have a union representative present at any disciplinary meeting, which ensures that the employer abides by the union contract and does not perform any illegal actions. Pennsylvania does little to provide more than the minimum federal labor protections, which makes unions ever more essential.

Drexel needs to abandon its atrocious anti-union history and voluntarily recognize the proposed RA union. In January 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic, residential desk coordinators at Drexel filed to form a union. Drexel responded by asking the NLRB, the federal agency responsible for regulating union activity, to hold in-person elections as opposed to mail ballots. COVID-19 vaccines were not available to the general public in Pennsylvania until April of that year. According to a professional staff member, who asked to remain anonymous fearing employer retaliation, as a result of Drexel’s vigorous antagonism to unions, the residential desk coordinators voted in-person due to fear of not having their votes counted even though the NLRB decided to provide the option of mail-in ballots. Forcing employees to risk their lives is not the way a caring employer responds to a unionization effort, and it is a shame that employees seriously debated risking the health of themselves and their loved ones to secure better working conditions.

At this stage of the RA unionization process, Drexel has the option to voluntarily recognize the union, and should do so to show respect for its workers’ rights. Amid the backdrop of President John Fry of Drexel being in the top 10 most highly paid US private college presidents and the general sentiment that Drexel has become too corporatized (President Fry is a former management consultant), it is essential for Drexel to show its commitment to its employees. If Drexel truly cares about students’ voices, it would allow its student employees to create a union that represents their voices.

It is also in Drexel’s best interest to voluntarily recognize the union. As of 11 p.m. on March 12, a petition being circulated by the RA union had garnered 367 signatures from current residents, students, alumni and RAs from other institutions. The petition was only created the day before. As public pressure mounts, Drexel will find it increasingly difficult to perform anti-union tactics. The union’s formation also seems inevitable according to a union press release, 80% of RAs support unionization. Only 50% + 1 vote is required for the formation of the union. The union already has the votes. It is simply pointless for Drexel to waste resources attempting to resist the unionization effort, and it would do Drexel favors to begin negotiating in good faith instead of wasting everyone’s time.

A long road lies ahead for the RAs. Unless Drexel voluntarily recognizes the union, the RAs must go through an election process before receiving the honor of being the first student employee union at Drexel. Then the union must negotiate its first contract, which can be a long, arduous process.

All eyes will be on Drexel in what will be a test case for the administration’s willingness to work with student unions, as various other student employee groups consider their own union bids.

On Monday, March 11, The Triangle reported that resident assistants at Drexel University announced an official petition to form a union. This is the first of several steps to ultimately form the first student employee union at Drexel.

In a previous issue, The Triangle detailed how Drexel treats its student employees as second-class. RAs described how Drexel fails to recognize the time and commitment required to be an RA and lacks transparency around employment practices. 

With exhausting duties like unpaid training activities, holiday shifts, showing Public Safety how to run the desk at night, overnight 12-hour shifts on weekdays and 24-hour shifts on weekends staying chained in the residence hall, RAs feel that their current $100 pre-tax monthly stipend and partial meal plan ($355 stipend but no meal plan for Stiles Hall RAs) do not fairly compensate them for what one RA, who asked to remain anonymous fearing employer retaliation, described as an approximately 30-hour work week. 

Job security is also a concern because RAs are not guaranteed to have their employment contract renewed each year, which creates uncertainty about their housing situation and livelihood. A union is the only way for RAs and other student employees to secure permanent and meaningful change on these workplace issues.

Unions provide several unique protections for employees. There is strength in numbers, and unions force employers to engage in collective bargaining, which means employees can jointly  negotiate for better working conditions without fearing individual repercussions for asking for more . When employers become unreasonable or bargain in bad faith, federal law allows union members to seek relief from the National Labor Relations Board or go on strike. The right to strike is protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Employees facing disciplinary action have the right to have a union representative present at any disciplinary meeting, which ensures that the employer abides by the union contract and does not perform any illegal actions. Pennsylvania does little to provide more than the minimum federal labor protections, which makes unions ever more essential.

Drexel needs to abandon its atrocious anti-union history and voluntarily recognize the proposed RA union. In January 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic, residential desk coordinators at Drexel filed to form a union. Drexel responded by asking the NLRB, the federal agency responsible for regulating union activity, to hold in-person elections as opposed to mail ballots. COVID-19 vaccines were not available to the general public in Pennsylvania until April of that year. According to a professional staff member, who asked to remain anonymous fearing employer retaliation, as a result of Drexel’s vigorous antagonism to unions, the residential desk coordinators voted in-person due to fear of not having their votes counted even though the NLRB decided to provide the option of mail-in ballots. Forcing employees to risk their lives is not the way a caring employer responds to a unionization effort, and it is a shame that employees seriously debated risking the health of themselves and their loved ones to secure better working conditions.

At this stage of the RA unionization process, Drexel has the option to voluntarily recognize the union, and should do so to show respect for its workers’ rights. Amid the backdrop of President John Fry of Drexel being in the top 10 most highly paid US private college presidents and the general sentiment that Drexel has become too corporatized (President Fry is a former management consultant), it is essential for Drexel to show its commitment to its employees. If Drexel truly cares about students’ voices, it would allow its student employees to create a union that represents their voices.

It is also in Drexel’s best interest to voluntarily recognize the union. As of 11 p.m. on March 12, a petition being circulated by the RA union had garnered 367 signatures from current residents, students, alumni and RAs from other institutions. The petition was only created the day before. As public pressure mounts, Drexel will find it increasingly difficult to perform anti-union tactics. The union’s formation also seems inevitable according to a union press release, 80% of RAs support unionization. Only 50% + 1 vote is required for the formation of the union. The union already has the votes. It is simply pointless for Drexel to waste resources attempting to resist the unionization effort, and it would do Drexel favors to begin negotiating in good faith instead of wasting everyone’s time.

A long road lies ahead for the RAs. Unless Drexel voluntarily recognizes the union, the RAs must go through an election process before receiving the honor of being the first student employee union at Drexel. Then the union must negotiate its first contract, which can be a long, arduous process.

All eyes will be on Drexel in what will be a test case for the administration’s willingness to work with student unions, as various other student employee groups consider their own union bids.

This Monday marked the first day of Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for Muslims. Muslims observe fasting from sunrise to sunset throughout the month, abstaining from any food or drink. The fast is broken each day with a meal, or iftar, often with dates and water.

Students who have Drexel’s dining hall plan are able to grab a to-go meal for Suhoor (also known as Sehri), as well as pick up dates and water at various campus locations such as the lobbies of Creese Student Center, Rush Building, dining halls on campus and residence halls.

Asma Rasouly, the Public Relations Chair on the Drexel Muslim Student Association (DMSA) board, shares the club’s upcoming plans for Ramadan.

“Most students live on campus or have classes near Iftar time. To make it easier, the MSA wanted to host iftars for everyone fasting, so that we can spend time together during this blessed month so that nobody feels alone, as Ramadan is usually spent with families. We’ve continued this tradition for many years with our MSA,” states Rasouly.

The DMSA will hold Iftars on campus Monday through Thursday, with locations varying between Behrakis Hall and Lebow 220. You can check out their Ramadan calendar on their Instagram! With donations from community members, they are able to provide iftar for 200 students daily.

“The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said, “Whoever feeds a fasting person will earn the same reward as him without diminishing in any way the reward of the fasting person,” shares Rasouly regarding her efforts on board. 

After breaking the fast and praying Maghrib prayer together, Muslims pray Isha and Taraweeh, a voluntary prayer performed every night of Ramadan. Many gather to pray Taraweeh together at the JEMIC, the James E. Marks Intercultural Center, on campus, commonly known as the ICC among Muslim students.

Rasouly highlights the rewarding nature of being a part of this process: “Ramadan is definitely the busiest month for everyone in Drexel MSA. It requires all hands on deck from not only the board but members who volunteer as well. Although it requires lots of work and effort in the end it’s so beneficial and heartwarming seeing our community come together for this month as we all try and get closer to our faith.”

The month comes to an end with the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two major holidays celebrated in Islam, commemorating the holy month.

Make sure to wish your Muslim friends, co-workers and peers a Ramadan Mubarak! Here are some tips you can take to be supportive of them this month:

Learn about Ramadan: Take the time to educate yourself about the significance of Ramadan and the customs and practices involved!

Respect their prayer schedule: Muslims engage in increased prayers during Ramadan, which may mean stepping out and taking breaks for prayers. 

Be mindful of their fasting: Recognize that your friends are abstaining from food and drink during the daytime which can result in low levels of energy.

This Monday marked the first day of Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for Muslims. Muslims observe fasting from sunrise to sunset throughout the month, abstaining from any food or drink. The fast is broken each day with a meal, or iftar, often with dates and water.

Students who have Drexel’s dining hall plan are able to grab a to-go meal for Suhoor (also known as Sehri), as well as pick up dates and water at various campus locations such as the lobbies of Creese Student Center, Rush Building, dining halls on campus and residence halls.

Asma Rasouly, the Public Relations Chair on the Drexel Muslim Student Association (DMSA) board, shares the club’s upcoming plans for Ramadan.

“Most students live on campus or have classes near Iftar time. To make it easier, the MSA wanted to host iftars for everyone fasting, so that we can spend time together during this blessed month so that nobody feels alone, as Ramadan is usually spent with families. We’ve continued this tradition for many years with our MSA,” states Rasouly.

The DMSA will hold Iftars on campus Monday through Thursday, with locations varying between Behrakis Hall and Lebow 220. You can check out their Ramadan calendar on their Instagram! With donations from community members, they are able to provide iftar for 200 students daily.

“The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said, “Whoever feeds a fasting person will earn the same reward as him without diminishing in any way the reward of the fasting person,” shares Rasouly regarding her efforts on board. 

After breaking the fast and praying Maghrib prayer together, Muslims pray Isha and Taraweeh, a voluntary prayer performed every night of Ramadan. Many gather to pray Taraweeh together at the JEMIC, the James E. Marks Intercultural Center, on campus, commonly known as the ICC among Muslim students.

Rasouly highlights the rewarding nature of being a part of this process: “Ramadan is definitely the busiest month for everyone in Drexel MSA. It requires all hands on deck from not only the board but members who volunteer as well. Although it requires lots of work and effort in the end it’s so beneficial and heartwarming seeing our community come together for this month as we all try and get closer to our faith.”

The month comes to an end with the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr, one of the two major holidays celebrated in Islam, commemorating the holy month.

Make sure to wish your Muslim friends, co-workers and peers a Ramadan Mubarak! Here are some tips you can take to be supportive of them this month:

Learn about Ramadan: Take the time to educate yourself about the significance of Ramadan and the customs and practices involved!

Respect their prayer schedule: Muslims engage in increased prayers during Ramadan, which may mean stepping out and taking breaks for prayers. 

Be mindful of their fasting: Recognize that your friends are abstaining from food and drink during the daytime which can result in low levels of energy.

It has been called “the Fascist Playbook.” Project 2025 is a plan by far-right Republicans to seize total control of the United States government. Created by The Heritage Foundation, it is a lengthy 900-page plan detailing how conservatives will appoint far-right freedom fighters to all levels of government in 2025 if Donald Trump is re-elected president. The most startling fact about Project 2025 may not be the plan itself but rather the public’s total lack of awareness that such a plan exists. Among those who do know about it, a small group outwardly discount it as impossible to implement. To those individuals, I would like to remind you of Roe v. Wade. Progress means different things to different people and there are many people who do not want to live in a democracy. Instead, they want to live in a dictatorship with a strongman leader who just makes things happen the way they want them to happen. This is what Project 2025 is, and if Donald Trump is re-elected to a second term he will implement this plan without hesitation.

Many liberal minded people wrongly assume that those on the far-right are unintelligent and not a threat. The creators of Project 2025 are indeed very smart and work for think tanks or law firms. Many are also authors of books. So, what are the goals of these individuals? In their own words, they hope to “restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children,” “dismantle the administrative state, and return self-governance to the American people,” “defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats,” and finally, “secure our God-given individual rights to live freely—what our Constitution calls ‘the Blessings of Liberty.’”

What these carefully worded ideas really mean are, “outlaw abortion and LGBT+ identity, allow racism as it existed in the 1950s, keep immigrants out of the country, and make legal decisions based on their specific interpretation of religion.” The United States, a country known around the world as a melting pot of ideas and cultures, could soon be entering its darkest era as a country governed exclusively by the far-right.

These ideas are not new to American society. In the 1940s, many people sympathized with those who hated Jewish people, Catholics, Irish, and African Americans. The 1947 film “Don’t Be a Sucker” is so relevant to American culture today that it could have been filmed by Steven Spielberg himself. In the film, a public speaker in a park gives a passionate speech about the direction of America. In the speech, he expresses his hatred for black people stealing jobs before shouting, “What’s going to become of us real Americans?” Some of the film’s characters look on in disgust while others seem intrigued by the hateful ideas. This is not an article about the 1940s, yet the parallels between now and then are becoming a frightening reality.

The United States is unique in the world for its reverence of its constitution. In many countries, France for example, constitutions are thrown out and replaced all the time. We view the constitution as a sacred document, yet the idea of a constitution being thrown to the side is not a wild idea. With a conservative supreme court that has been more hostile towards important precedents than any in the past, it is not unreasonable to believe that they would find ways to make Project 2025 a reality should our court system challenge it. Some argue that they have already put the pieces in place.

Joe Biden is the only one who can stop this plan from becoming a reality. He is the only one standing in front of a Trump dictatorship. Again, for people who think this talk is fantasy I encourage you to remember the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of insurrectionists stormed the capitol with the intent to, in their own words, “hang Mike Pence.” These were not protestors; they wanted to overthrow the government! They wanted to install Donald Trump as president despite his loss to Joe Biden. With all the video footage that exists, court cases taking place, plans like Project 2025 written up, and direct rhetoric from far-right mouthpieces like Tucker Carlson it is not at all hard to believe this will be a reality if Trump is re-elected. 

Many students will be voting in their first presidential election this year. Now is not the time to make a protest vote for a third party! If you are interested in learning more about Project 2025 and the harm it could cause you and others, you can read more at www.project2025.org/policy/. Just make sure to watch the 1947 film ‘Don’t Be a Sucker’ after you do.

“History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” – Mark Twain

It has been called “the Fascist Playbook.” Project 2025 is a plan by far-right Republicans to seize total control of the United States government. Created by The Heritage Foundation, it is a lengthy 900-page plan detailing how conservatives will appoint far-right freedom fighters to all levels of government in 2025 if Donald Trump is re-elected president. The most startling fact about Project 2025 may not be the plan itself but rather the public’s total lack of awareness that such a plan exists. Among those who do know about it, a small group outwardly discount it as impossible to implement. To those individuals, I would like to remind you of Roe v. Wade. Progress means different things to different people and there are many people who do not want to live in a democracy. Instead, they want to live in a dictatorship with a strongman leader who just makes things happen the way they want them to happen. This is what Project 2025 is, and if Donald Trump is re-elected to a second term he will implement this plan without hesitation.

Many liberal minded people wrongly assume that those on the far-right are unintelligent and not a threat. The creators of Project 2025 are indeed very smart and work for think tanks or law firms. Many are also authors of books. So, what are the goals of these individuals? In their own words, they hope to “restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children,” “dismantle the administrative state, and return self-governance to the American people,” “defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats,” and finally, “secure our God-given individual rights to live freely—what our Constitution calls ‘the Blessings of Liberty.’”

What these carefully worded ideas really mean are, “outlaw abortion and LGBT+ identity, allow racism as it existed in the 1950s, keep immigrants out of the country, and make legal decisions based on their specific interpretation of religion.” The United States, a country known around the world as a melting pot of ideas and cultures, could soon be entering its darkest era as a country governed exclusively by the far-right.

These ideas are not new to American society. In the 1940s, many people sympathized with those who hated Jewish people, Catholics, Irish, and African Americans. The 1947 film “Don’t Be a Sucker” is so relevant to American culture today that it could have been filmed by Steven Spielberg himself. In the film, a public speaker in a park gives a passionate speech about the direction of America. In the speech, he expresses his hatred for black people stealing jobs before shouting, “What’s going to become of us real Americans?” Some of the film’s characters look on in disgust while others seem intrigued by the hateful ideas. This is not an article about the 1940s, yet the parallels between now and then are becoming a frightening reality.

The United States is unique in the world for its reverence of its constitution. In many countries, France for example, constitutions are thrown out and replaced all the time. We view the constitution as a sacred document, yet the idea of a constitution being thrown to the side is not a wild idea. With a conservative supreme court that has been more hostile towards important precedents than any in the past, it is not unreasonable to believe that they would find ways to make Project 2025 a reality should our court system challenge it. Some argue that they have already put the pieces in place.

Joe Biden is the only one who can stop this plan from becoming a reality. He is the only one standing in front of a Trump dictatorship. Again, for people who think this talk is fantasy I encourage you to remember the events of Jan. 6, 2020, when a mob of insurrectionists stormed the capitol with the intent to, in their own words, “hang Mike Pence.” These were not protestors; they wanted to overthrow the government! They wanted to install Donald Trump as president despite his loss to Joe Biden. With all the video footage that exists, court cases taking place, plans like Project 2025 written up, and direct rhetoric from far-right mouthpieces like Tucker Carlson it is not at all hard to believe this will be a reality if Trump is re-elected. 

Many students will be voting in their first presidential election this year. Now is not the time to make a protest vote for a third party! If you are interested in learning more about Project 2025 and the harm it could cause you and others, you can read more at www.project2025.org/policy/. Just make sure to watch the 1947 film ‘Don’t Be a Sucker’ after you do.

“History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” – Mark Twain