On Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the results of the U.S. presidential election were announced by major news outlets , four history professors—Geoffrey Canada Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History Brian Purnell, Professor of History Dallas Denery, Associate Professor of History Meghan Roberts and Associate Professor of History and Environmental Studies Matthew Klingle—gathered for the fourth panel in the department’s fall semester programming on the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, titled “The 1619 Project and Making Sense of the 2020 Election.”
The panel began with a discussion about the legacy of Black women in American politics, with Roberts quoting from Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University Martha Jones’s 2020 book, “Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All.” Roberts noted that Stacey Abrams has devoted herself to political organizing in Georgia since her loss in the state’s 2018 gubernatorial race.
Among honks and cheers temporarily heard on Maine Street, Brooke Vahos ’21, who is living off campus, stood at the edge of the Brunswick Mall with a “Honk for Biden” sign in celebration of President-elect Joseph R.
With the results of the presidential election still unclear three days after Election Day, Bowdoin students, along with the rest of the county, are stuck in a state of limbo. Emotions run high, off and on campus.
Over 90 percent of students expressed their support for Former Vice President Joe Biden in yesterday’s presidential election, while just five percent expressed their intention to vote for President Donald Trump, according to the Orient’s election survey.
On November 3, professors across all departments were faced with a challenge: how to address the election. From canceling class to walking to the polls, professors had a variety of plans for students on Tuesday and throughout the week.
Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Janet Lohmann shared the College’s 2020 Election Week events page in an email to all students on Tuesday. The programming, which includes professor-led conversations, yoga and meditation sessions, shuttles to the polls and watch parties on Election Day, post-election drop-in hours and the final installment of the history department’s “1619 Project,” includes 14 events—some in-person and some virtual—between October 27 and November 6.
On Tuesday evening, in collaboration with the government department and Bowdoin Votes, the McKeen Center for the Common Good hosted a panel titled “Anticipating the Unanticipated: Puzzling Through What Might Happen Post-Election.”
Moderated by Sarah Chingos, director of the Bowdoin public service initiative, the panel featured Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government Andrew Rudalevige, Professor of Government Michael Franz and Assistant Professor of Government Maron Sorenson.
Five days before what is likely to be the most contentious national election in recent history and as more than 345,000 Mainers have already cast their ballots, Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and Democratic candidate for U.S.
More than 75 students have signed Sunrise Bowdoin’s post-election statement, committing to a one-day strike from classes if President Donald “Trump and his allies completely and permanently stop votes from being counted” or “state legislatures attempt to dismiss and overwrite the vote of the people.” The statement is a contingency plan, and action will be dependent on the events following the election on November 3.
Black people have been grieving the loss of our ancestors and freedom for a long time. From the first time an imperialist stepped foot on the continent of Africa, to the violent removal from our native lands, to the demonization of traditional spiritual practices, to the rebranding of slavery into mass incarceration, to the willfull ignorance of the European American majority, to the very stress of racism lowering the life expectancy of Black women.
Ranked-Choice Voting Explained: Maine voters will use ranked-choice voting for the Presidential, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives elections.
Maine absentee ballots must be returned to your municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day, November 3.
To the Editor:
Though I hesitate to prolong the debate in this publication over Progressives’ voting habits, I object to Theo Danzig’s argument in his recent Letter to the Editor that a vote for Howie Hawkins in Maine is “reckless.”
For Hawkins to be awarded four electoral votes, as in Mr.
On Thursday night, former Attorney General Eric Holder participated in a Zoom conversation with members of the Bowdoin community. Holder is best known for his service during the Obama administration from 2009 to 2015 as the first African American Attorney General in United States history, but he has also served in previous presidential administrations, including as Deputy Attorney General during the Clinton administration and as Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration.
During Tuesday’s debate, we watched the country divide further as our nation’s political future devolved into images of chaos. The next four weeks will only hurtle us further into this uncertainty as the election grows near.
This is my response to both the article titled “Progressives, do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” and to the ways that Bowdoin students talk about “progressive voters.”
What do you mean by “progressives?” Do you see us as some kind of homogeneous group who share the same challenges, the same social, economic and racial realities and who agree unilaterally on a solution?
Howie Hawkins’ nomination as the Green Party candidate for president is a tremendous opportunity for the American left. It’s true that the Green Party is not a solidly working-class, fundamentally anti-capitalist organizing machine ready to lead a full-scale proletarian (electoral) revolution.
To the Editor:
In her op-ed last week, “Maine Progressives: Rank Biden Second,” Livia Kunins-Berkowitz argued that since Maine offers ranked-choice voting, progressives should place as their first choice a more progressive candidate, such as Howie Hawkins of the Green Party.
In lieu of speaking about Joshua Chamberlain at the annual convening dinner, Senator Angus King (I-ME) took part in a Zoom conversation with the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities on Thursday night, addressing a variety of pertinent political issues, such as the upcoming election, the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice, the growing partisanship in Congress and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Maine Senate race between incumbent Susan Collins and Maine Speaker of the House Sara Gideon is one of the tightest, most high-profile races in the country. Both candidates are hoping to gain momentum and build a tangible lead in the next six weeks, yet neither has been able to earn a consistent advantage in the polls.
To the Editor:
I write to express my deep approval of last week’s op-ed, written by my classmate, Alexander Banbury ’20. Now, with the passing of Justice Ginsburg and the intensification of the climate crisis, the call for electing Joe Biden has never been more urgent.
During the first few weeks of a typical school year, first years would sign candidacy forms for their new classmates, pass out campaign literature and hang dozens of campaign posters around their dorms. However, like most traditions, campaigning for class council looked a little different this year.
With the 2020 election steadily approaching, groups across campus are kicking voter outreach into high gear.
Andrew Lardie, associate director for service and leadership at the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good, has taken a central role in promoting voter engagement through Bowdoin Votes, a nonpartisan voting initiative run through the McKeen Center.
Joe Biden is the only choice for progressive voters in this election. Abstaining from voting or voting for fringe third-party candidates cripples the progressive agenda and is not an option. Unfortunately, I am afraid that progressive voters do not see it this way because Joe Biden was not their top choice in the Democratic primary.
Question 1: Should Maine allow religious and philosophical exemptions to requiring vaccinations for students?
Question 1—the only question on the Maine ballot next week—will ask voters whether they want to keep or repeal a law passed last year that would eliminate “religious and philosophical exemptions” to vaccination requirements.
As Maine voters head to the polls next Tuesday for the presidential primary elections, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is the most favored candidate among Democratic Bowdoin students, according to a poll conducted by the Orient.
REFERENDUM QUESTIONS
This year, the Maine ballot features one bond issue and one constitutional amendment. Following passage by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate of the state legislature, bond issues and constitutional amendments in Maine must be approved by voters in order to take effect.
Last weekend, administrators, faculty and students from eight out of the 11 NESCAC colleges convened at Middlebury College for the first NESCAC Votes Summit to jump start each campus’ election engagement plan.
From partnering with the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE), Bowdoin Votes has been able to examine the areas on campus in which voter turnout could be stronger.
After a 2016 election cycle in which only 52.6 percent of Bowdoin students who were eligible to vote actually cast a ballot, Bowdoin Votes, a campus group, is ramping up its get-out-the-vote efforts in advance of the 2018 midterm elections on Tuesday, November 6.
