Three hundred and seventy-seven days after Zohran Mamdani ’14 launched his bid for mayor of New York City, Bowdoin publicly acknowledged his victory. We, at The Bowdoin Orient, wish to go beyond acknowledgment.

On the evening of Mamdani’s win, the Bowdoin College and Bowdoin Alumni Instagram accounts published a joint post declaring the news. The caption reads: “Zohran Mamdani ’14 has been elected the 111th mayor of New York City. Bowdoin has a long tradition of graduates who have pursued careers in public service, including mayors, governors, legislators, ambassadors and judges.” The post featured a stock photo of a New York City bus stop with a Bowdoin “B.”

Hundreds of comments flooded in condemning the College’s perfunctory response to his historic victory. The next day, Bowdoin News posted an article about the election win, followed by a second Instagram post advertising the story. Commenters continued to critique the second post, calling it inadequate.

There are, of course, a number of possible explanations for Bowdoin’s reluctance to congratulate Mamdani. The national political climate—in addition to the ongoing congressional investigation into the College in the aftermath of last year’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) encampment—has likely shaped Bowdoin’s response to Mamdani’s victory.

Furthermore, as a nonprofit organization, the College is subject to certain restrictions regarding engagement with political activity—though this has not hindered it from conferring high praise upon other alumni holding public office in the past.

In 2014, the College featured then-mayor of San Francisco Ed Lee ’74 in a front-page Bowdoin Magazine article; in 2022, the College highlighted the work of Maine state representative Morgan Rielly ’18.

In the following two years, Bowdoin News wrote two lengthy pieces celebrating Justin J. Pearson ’17, the Tennessee state lawmaker and Bowdoin alumnus whom state Republicans expelled after he protested gun restrictions. The College also invited him to campus as the keynote speaker for the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture. In the April 2023 piece, the College seemed comfortable articulating political positions, noting that while “the circumstances of the expulsions are dismaying…, Pearson’s professors and others who knew him as a student praise the way he has handled the flood of attention.” With Pearson in particular, the College was willing to laud a public political figure of high office attracting national attention, an action we enthusiastically support. Yet Mamdani did not receive the same treatment.

As hundreds of commenters on Bowdoin’s initial Instagram post have intimated, there are also several less charitable explanations for the discrepancy between the College’s tepid reaction to Mamdani’s election and its effusiveness with regard to its other alumni in public service. The College may be motivated by an unwillingness to upset high-paying donors: Billionaire Reed Hastings ’83, who recently made a $50 million donation to the College, contributed $250,000 to a super PAC supporting Andrew Cuomo’s candidacy. John Fish ’82, whose financial commitment to the College endowed the head football coach position, likewise contributed $250,000 to the same super PAC. Several commenters have also drawn connections between the College’s lukewarm response and its contentious relationship with SJP—the very group that Mamdani founded during his time at Bowdoin.

Whatever the reason for their reticence—whether it be caution or cowardice—the Orient is proud of Mamdani’s win and the hope that he brings in the current political landscape. His campaign pushed the boundaries of what was believed to be possible. Many students and alumni expressed this pride not only in the comment section of the College’s Instagram page but also across campus this week.

In many ways, Mamdani represents the best of Bowdoin’s commitment to the common good. His campaign highlighted the lives, voices and struggles of everyday New Yorkers with the goal of making the city affordable and accessible to all. Mamdani was an activist and voice for change at the College, and he has discussed how his Bowdoin education shaped his thinking and organizing throughout his career in public service.

In a political environment where our elected officials often stoke resentment and apathy, the College’s faculty, students and alumni alike celebrate Mamdani’s election as historic. Regardless of the College’s response to this moment, we at the Orient proudly congratulate Mamdani for his victory.

This editorial represents the majority opinion of the Editorial Board, which is composed of Lily Echeverria, Rin Pastor, Kaya Patel, Andy Robinson, Mina Zanganeh, Catalina Escobedo and Caitlin Panicker.