This LTE was written in response to: Boston College Republicans’ Statement to the BC Community.
The Boston College Republicans’ recent statement to the community shows a disappointing misunderstanding of how politics works on a college campus.
Half-baked or unpopular opinions have circulated this campus in every era—often by way of this very publication. The community hashes out the merits and flaws in dining halls, dormitories, and classrooms. As a Catholic and arguably inherently conservative institution in a deeply blue city and state, BC is unique among universities in the breadth of cultural and political debates it encounters. The frequency and intensity of these discussions are precisely how students learn to listen, communicate, and change their minds more effectively.
Let’s be clear: dictating how your fellow students should respond to your politics is not a viable approach to learning. Moreover, framing conservative students as victims is, at best, disingenuous in the wake of an election where conservatives were broadly victorious.
There are many students who are justifiably worried about the ways in which an incoming Republican federal government will materially affect their lives for the worse. This includes the many international students on the Heights who the BC Republicans have casually ignored in their call for people to “come together around our shared values as Americans.”
If the BC Republicans are genuinely worried about the apparent chasm between them and other students, perhaps they should perform more outreach to those who feel alienated and vulnerable right now and modify their platform in a way that will broaden and embolden their coalition.
What they should not do is publicly call fellow students “unhinged” and then grouse about a lack of dialogue on campus. Do better and lead by example.
