On Nov. 9, a Rally for Hope was held in front of the Free Speech Wall from 6 to 8 p.m. to allow students to “…come together no matter political affiliation and rally for hope…” as well as to “…figure out what we as students can do in these times,” according to the Facebook page for the event. The event was hosted by freshmen Scott Romano, international business and economics major from Littleton, and Colin Phipps, political science and philosophy major from Portland, Oregon. Romano said that his goal in putting together the event was to give students hope after the tension that arose on campus after Donald Trump’s win on Nov. 8 night.
The event began with students playing guitar and singing “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show and then transitioned to a speech by Romano (written by Phipps) about how, in spite of the results of the election, students must not lose hope and continue to fight to make the United States what they want it to be.
“Famous statesman Adlai Stevenson once said, ‘What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important than what leads us—what convictions, what courage, what faith—win or lose,’” said Romano. “It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be scared, and it’s certainly okay to be mad…But I ask all of you to brush yourselves off. Tend to our scraped knee, stand up, and do everything you can to help yourself, your neighbors, and, most importantly, your country.”
The rally was then opened to comments from the audience about anything from how the election made them feel to solutions to more songs. Students took turns going to the front of the group and speaking on their fears, calling others to action through activism or volunteerism, expressing disillusionment with the electoral college and the American political system in general, looking towards the midterm elections and personal anecdotes.
“[People are saying that this is] no big deal. Nothing’s going to happen. And the first thing that comes to mind is, yeah—because it doesn’t really affect you. I woke up this morning and the first thing that came to my mind was my dad. He’s been in Mexico for about 14 years because he can’t come back. And now, I think that he’ll never come back,” said one student. “And I’m scared. I’m scared because we had finally passed DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and when I was younger we fought so hard for that and it finally passed…and that might go away. So don’t tell somebody that it’s no big deal because it is…Use your education to educate others, but don’t make people feel bad, either. We all really need to stick together.”
FOX31, a local Fox affiliate, was at the event to film the rally and interview Romano. The crowd dispersed around 7 p.m.
Romano hoped that the rally gave students a sense of optimism and Phipps expressed hope that students will continue to engage in these kinds of discussions.
“Discourse, political dialogue and discourse is always the next step. It’s very easy to kind of disregard Trump as a racist or a sexist, but that’s not going to get us anywhere. What’s going to get us as a community forward is talking things through. Arguing with well-reasoned facts and listening to the other side. Productive dialogue, discourse, discussion is the next step,” said Phipps.
