At the last Student Senate meeting, the senators and class presidents had the option to vote on the wording and message of an exteremely important email that would be sent on behalf of the College. This email addresses the recent changes made by the Trump administration, specifically those which affect college students. 

This email was bland, uninspiring and incredibly disappointing. It read like a corporate email trying to appease both the people who agree with Trump’s policies and those affected by his policies. 

When a Senior class Senator mentioned that the original agreement for the email was to specifically address the fact that trans and non-binary students are being targeted, the senate Parliamentarian and a member of the Equity, Inclusivity and Belonging Committee brushed them off. They claimed that an email addressing all students would be better than that which validated the identity of certain students at the college. However, this conversation quickly deteriorated into a fight around playing ‘which-minority-has-it-worse.’ 

This is absolutely ridiculous. No other group has been told they don’t exist, have not existed and will never exist. Dickinson Student Senate should be able to recognize this. 

I’d like all the senators who did not vote to send a second email that directly and only acknowledged trans and non binary students’ right to exist to consider this quote from Peter Capaldi’s twelfth Doctor: “I do what I do, because it’s right! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind. It’s just that. Just kind… Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand, is where I fall.” 

Senators, choose where you want to fall.  

While this email was a first draft, it blatantly shows what Senate chooses to acknowledge, and, more importantly, what they will knowingly neglect. I hope to see change between this email draft and the next, but I know that this draft will guide all future ones.