Last Saturday, Joe Biden was declared the presumptive president-elect of the United States. I struggled then, as I do now, to express how the election made me feel. I imagine many of us have complicated feelings.
For this piece, I’m writing solo and without my dearest writer-in-crime. And unfortunately, because of that, this piece will be undoubtedly less funny. Feel free to stop reading now.
Our articles in the past have discussed student life on campus and things we yearn to see change in our interactions with students and professors regarding race.
“Sweet Caroline, BUM BUM BUM!” Hearing this line belt through the speakers as sweaty students push against each other, fighting for dancefloor space, is an average Friday night at Bowdoin College (Pre-COVID, of course). This scene leaves much to be desired.
With pictures of professors passionately lecturing and students of various backgrounds having engaging conversations plastered on Bowdoin’s website, one is bound to make assumptions about the academic culture of the College. It’s a picturesque bastion of liberal arts education, a breeding ground for new ideas and radical thought, a nursery for critical thinking and passionate debate.
What’s the relevant context for this summer? George Floyd’s death? The protests? A sea of students reading “White Fragility” and watching Ava DuVernay’s “13th”? Perhaps it was a combination of all of the above. Whatever it was, something shocked the white kids we knew into sending us a f*ckton of texts on June 2.