Well, I guess I am “out of the loop” so to speak. There has been a lot of activity in this story that I was unaware of down here in Texas where I live. I wish Wellesley College would be doing a little more direct communication on this to us parents. But this morning I woke up to a story in the New York Times that detailed five incidents of post-election trauma and their outcomes. One of the incidents highlighted was the Babson College/Wellesley College event that I have written about a couple of times.
The article contained two links to apologies on Facebook posted by the two young men. (I have refrained from publishing their names, but will link to their public apologies if you care to read them.) The comments to me appear to be crafted to avoid legal trouble and being expelled from Babson. But remember, I’m a dad of a student at Wellesley who walks on that campus and I’m over a 1000 miles away. Please do not post death threats, threats of violence or profanity to the two young men. I truly hope they are being changed by the reaction to this incident in a positive way.
When I turned on the television this morning Joe Scarborough was on. There was a chyron on the bottom of the screen that read most of the country was positive about the election of Trump. My heart sank. I went through a rapid procession of the stages of grief. How does this connect with the Babson College story? It’s this sinking feeling that we are already settling into a state of acceptance. It is just too easy to fall back into our regular routines of living. No one is coming to arrest me (yet) and I enjoy Thanksgiving, and have a job to do, etc. etc. These Babson College students are going through the motions of modern apology. They make their social media statements, weather the criticism and backlash hatred, return to routine, and voila… problem gone. Off to fulfill their 1% future.
Their champion Trump too. Settle the lawsuits, sit with the major press, say the unifying things about Clinton, pick a cabinet with some token gestures of diversity, weather the hatred/backlash, and voila… business as usual. Nothing to see here. The long-term damages to the economy, environment, and social fabric of the country will be imperceptible. I need a drink.