Why Congress to Campus should not be held
September 29, 2022
During my scroll through the Mac Daily on Thursday, Sept. 22, nothing seemed amiss at first. Running on a less than ideal amount of sleep, I skimmed through event titles and at first the only thing that caught my eye was “(R-Fla.)” and “(D-Ariz.)”. Huh, I thought. Then I looked closer.
It’s that time of year again folks: my liberal arts college is organizing an event where my rights will be debated (publicly) by geriatric cisgender white men. What is more astounding is the fact that if I want to view this public debate about my rights, I’ll have to reserve a ticket.
Dennis Ross, a Republican from Florida, and Sam Coppersmith, a Democrat from Arizona, are going to get up on the stage of Mairs Concert Hall and engage in some sort of debate about whether it was justified for Roe v. Wade to be overturned, and consequently whether people with uteruses have a constitutional right to an abortion in the United States. The Mac Daily entry mentions our current “polarized moment,” and states that “part of our community’s work includes practicing how to communicate across differences, including differing political perspectives.”
Let me make something clear to Macalester College. Human rights are not political. No one with a uterus asked to see two actively disintegrating white men “vigorously disagree” about whether we should be allowed to have bodily autonomy. Oh, Coppersmith, the Democrat from Arizona, is actually in support of my right to choose? That’s so great. I love when an old white politician who hasn’t held political office since 1995 and runs a blog titled LiberalDesert stands up for my basic human rights. Thanks, Sam!
If Macalester really wants to practice communicating across differences, the issue of abortion is absolutely not appropriate. “Differences” in perspective regarding abortion have lead to the deaths of actual people, and actively continue to do so now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Access to reproductive healthcare is a real and pressing issue for many Macalester students, and seeing this access debated on a public stage is guaranteed to be traumatizing for such students. For how social justice-oriented Macalester claims to be, I am surprised and appalled that an event like this has been planned.
An event ticket reservation confirmation email also mentions the fact that signs will not be permitted during the event. It seems as if the organizers of the event understand what they are getting themselves into, and are taking some precautions which include the limitation of free speech amongst the student body.
Besides what is obviously horrific about this situation, a quick look at Ross’s Wikipedia page reveals that along with his anti-abortion beliefs, he is also Islamophobic and anti-immigrant. Once again I am personally very surprised that the Macalester I know is welcoming a politician with openly xenophobic and anti-immigrant views to its campus. What about all those international students that it constantly claims to care about? Furthermore, why is Macalester welcoming a person who espouses hate speech to address its campus community in the first place?
Macalester College needs to cancel this event and issue an apology for the ways in which it was prepared to traumatize its student body by holding this event. Maybe next time it wants to help its community practice communicating across differences, it should be more in touch with the needs of said community. In this case, it clearly was not.
Lily • Feb 22, 2023 at 1:06 am
Did you need to slander these congressmen for being old? The open contempt you express for old people who are “disintegrating” is an example of blatant ageism and its place in this piece is distasteful and does nothing to move your weak argument forward.
Matt Steele • Oct 5, 2022 at 4:12 pm
This article is a sad reflection on Macalester and captures so much of the idealogical arrogance endemic in the student body.
“My liberal arts college is organizing an event where my rights will be debated (publicly) by geriatric cisgender white men.” This is literally how democracy operates; no matter how odious you find it that men have a say in abortion issues, this is how the world really works. Not engaging in any debate — especially on an issue where the maintenance of the status quo means you do not have a right to an abortion — is not going to get you anywhere.
Later: “Let me make something clear to Macalester College. Human rights are not political.” Sadly, that’s exactly what human rights are, and that’s exactly what politics is. I AGREE with the stance you have on all these issues from abortion to immigration, but these issues are very much up for debate in the public square, and acting as if your moral righteousness toward those issues insulates them from political pressure is really naive.
Who knows if any hearts and minds will be changed by a debate, but it’s really rich to cite this debate as what’s more traumatic to the student body than the actual state of affairs, where women on a national level have no right to an abortion and immigrants face a difficult road to citizenship and social acceptance.
Anna Andreasen • Sep 30, 2022 at 5:23 pm
I am concerned by the implication that hearing an opposing perspective is the primary issue here. I agree with Adriana: while we (uterus possessing folk, etc.) don’t want rich old white men to be the arbiters of our human rights, in many cases (such as the overturning of Roe v Wade) they are. I do find it upsetting to watch rich old white men debate my bodily autonomy, knowing that they have more social power than me. Avoiding engaging this dynamic may distance the trauma associated with abortion bans, but it doesn’t change our reality. Macalester provides an admirable number of condoms, but still, it does not actually exist in a bubble. Hosting these men and giving them space to speak does not mean that Macalester, as an institution, condones their viewpoints, or expects us as students to stay our freedom of speech.
For those of us with uteruses, it is frustrating and PATRONIZING to be told, as we were in the initial advertisement for the Congress to Campus, that listening to two retired white male politicians will enlighten us as to how to communicate better across difference. That is not what our subset of the Mac population will take away from this event. Individually we can instead chose to use this as an opportunity to gain more information about the arguments and tactics employed by those who govern our lives, or devote our time on other things. Personally, I don’t find the fact that the event is being held to be the problem, but rather the power structures that underlie the United States government, which will be there whether or not these former politicians talk and whether or not we listen to them.
Protesting the fact that this event is being held is performative and unproductive. It distracts from work actually aimed at changing the underlying white supremacist patriarchal power structures which enable the undermining of the rights of women, non-binary, and trans people. It takes energy that we could instead be spending supporting, expanding, and defending the reproductive healthcare access that remains, researching who we will vote for in the next election, or attending to and pushing back against further degradation of reproductive rights. Please fellow Mac students, I implore you to not waste your time canceling the acknowledgement that human rights are debated and instead take actions that will protect those rights. Protesting against retired politicians won’t do that.
Adriana Saso-Graves • Oct 11, 2022 at 1:23 pm
This was exceptionally well-put!
Rachel • Sep 30, 2022 at 3:19 pm
Please stay tuned for publicly around the DML’s event at the same time, which was in the works prior to the announcement of [Former] Congress to Campus, and the details of which are currently being finalized. A counter-protest needn’t sleuth energy from a voice worthy of your time and attention.
Sanan Engel • Sep 30, 2022 at 1:22 pm
Heck yeah, Kamini! A bunch of students are planning to meet with the Professors in charge of the event today, (with a mediator,) and if they don’t cancel or heavily modify the event we’re gonna have a huge protest outside. I don’t remember the name of who exactly is running the protest but the newly reformed Max YDSA is helping with it. Let me know if you want more info.
Charlie • Oct 1, 2022 at 2:07 am
How did the meeting go! Also, where should I go if I want more info on the protest (if needed) ♥️
Charlie Kelley-Pegg • Sep 30, 2022 at 9:55 am
Well said! I know myself and a handful of other students have expressed similar distaste for this event, it’s frustrating that it’s being held in the first place.
Adriana Saso-Graves • Sep 29, 2022 at 5:59 pm
“Traumatizing the student body” is exaggerating at best. Having a discussion held on campus doesn’t traumatize people, but the aftermath of the fall of Roe does. As much as I staunchly believe in bodily autonomy as an important principle, we arrived at this situation because many people (not a majority, but many) in this country do not believe in the right to abortion. Saying that we won’t listen, we won’t engage, we won’t discuss, gets us nowhere. Macalester is an institution, not a person. Macalester commits itself to internationalism, yes, but abortion is illegal in most countries in the world. Is that egregious? I certainly think so. Macalester cannot be committed to internationalism and simultaneously only entertain exclusively American, liberal viewpoints. Human rights should not be up for discussion, but evidently, they are. Insisting that Macalester “does” or “acts” in exactly the way students want gets us absolutely nowhere. “Macalester” should apologize. Who exactly do you mean? Macalester is not a person. Macalester is not going to defend and protect your right to not hear views that are deeply offensive, hurtful, biased, and often laden with lies or misinformation. And you shouldn’t expect it to. Having this discussion held on campus isn’t going to traumatize anyone. If they think it will literally traumatize them, they don’t have to attend. I’m not saying I don’t agree with you, I don’t want there to be a discussion on this topic, either. But there is one. And insisting Macalester repeatedly align itself with the students aggrandizes Macalester, treating it as though it were a psuedo-person or moral entity.