Editorial

Advocating for Grassroots Efforts

By Editorial Staff

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Welcome home, Hamilton students. Many events have taken place since The Spectator was last published, not the least of which was the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, followed by worldwide demonstrations led by women to promote women’s rights as human rights. The morning of the march, Washington, D.C. was brimming with buses of protesters visiting to express their discontent with the rhetoric promoted by the new presidential administration. Three among those busses carried students, faculty, staff and community members from Hamilton College and the surrounding area.

Hundreds of thousands gathered to speak, think and march in solidarity with one another. Participants came to Washington with different goals and priorities in mind, but an embrace of the march’s intersectional approach brought protesters of different backgrounds and identities together. A similarly festive scene was apparent in Seneca Falls, New York City and Boston, where students also travelled to attend sister marches. The marches were by and large a huge success, including in the ways they presented problems to be considered as we move forward with protests and demonstrations in the future.

One point worth considering, as citizens try to come to terms with the national divisions that led to such a controversial president’s taking office, is the ways in which we are isolated from our own communities. Those on Hamilton’s campus who were aware that there was a sister march taking place in Utica, for example, were very few—and those from our campus who attended were fewer still. The knowledge and enthusiasm for political activism that is taught and encouraged at Hamilton College was well-represented on a national level. More locally, however, the student body’s presence was noticeably lacking.

This is by no means a criticism of those who traveled away from our community. Saturday, Jan. 21 will be forever remembered as one of Hamilton College’s proudest days, thanks to the students and faculty who helped organize transportation and other logistics to make it possible for our community to participate at the center of this historic moment. Yet as we move forward and consider how best to keep this momentum going, it is essential to look closer to home—to our home right here in Mohawk Valley.

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