Digesting the Susan Collins Commencement Decision
Given that this article is written on Tuesday, March 20, being the same day as the announcement that Susan Collins, a notable Republican from Maine, is our 2018 commencement speaker, it’s difficult to forecast how the student body will respond before this piece is released. Having said that, this article serves as a reply to my predicted feedback about Collins from the Colby community, and an examination of her merit as someone who will be remembered for years by my graduating class at Colby.
While securing a four-term senator is by all means a big-name acquisition for a small school in Maine, I suspect many students will feel uneasy about her gutless affiliations with our President despite seeming more moderate and opposed to him upon his election. Fivethirtyeight.com predicted that Collins would vote for measures in agreement with Trump just 47.8 percent of the time, and yet she has voted with him on 80.6 percent of decisions. Notable “yea” votes that many Colby students may disagree with include the Trump tax plan, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and, most recently, the rollback of some bank regulations put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act.
However, to focus only on these facts would be to discount Collins’s notable disagreements with Trump on issues many Colby students socially subscribe to. Collins has voted against the President in matters that include immigration, abortion and the environment. She also vocally supports sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea. For the nominations of two of the most controversial figures in the Cabinet, Betsy DeVos and Scott Pruitt, she voted “nay.” Yes, she has affirmed our president more times than expected, likely to maintain her status as a beloved leader of her party, but she has not given up all of her more moderate political viewpoints.
I suspect that the simple fact that she is a Republican will raise some eyebrows around campus as well, but I contend that her political status is positive for most departing seniors, who have now been in a liberal setting for at least four years. Having a speaker who disagrees with many Colby students, represents the sentiments of an older generation, and currently sits in power over our beloved Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, challenges our perspective in a positive way. Listening to a speaker who so many members of the Colby community agree with for the second year in a row would have only added to a community bubble that often searches for opinions that only to confirm its own similar viewpoints.
It is also refreshing to have a more neutral Republican on campus. Current Democratic news sources, such as the New York Times and CNN, fall under the more moderate label, while Fox News and Breitbart are more radical, and are the only consistent exposure many young people have to Right outlooks. A more moderate politician like Collins adds a different outlook to the mindsets of graduating seniors about to enter the “real” world, and demonstrates what an intelligent Republican looks like. Her status as a powerful woman and dynamic Mainer who has chaired important Senate committees on multiple occasions only makes her presence here at Colby more exciting.
My qualms with her as our commencement speaker, though, have to do with her existing ties to Colby.
Collins has already received an honorary degree here, spoken at Colby at the 2015 Mitchell Lecture, and visited the construction site for our downtown dormitory. Her links to the College make this speaker choice feel like a cop out. I worry that her speech will spend time discussing the now boring topics of Dare Northward campaign and the revitalization of Waterville. Instead of creating a confirmation bias for the students, I suspect Collins will represent a positive confirmation bias for the College on its recent actions. Surely, the administration will advertise the fact that an influential Maine politician will speak at graduation amidst its integration into a Maine downtown in an attempt to gain more publicity.
Could the College have gotten someone other than the senator who just last year is pictured smiling with a hardhat on in our new looming apartment complex? How long did it take to convince Collins to speak here? The reliance on a partnership seems too easy, and like a missed opportunity to bring a more refreshing voice into our community. The three additional speakers also already have strong ties to Colby.
Theaster Gates is the current Lunder Fellow and has spoken here before. He is also currently employed at the University of Chicago, where President David A. Greene and many members of the administration previously worked. Gregory Powell serves as chairman of the Harold Alfond Foundation and spoke in downtown Waterville last year. The name of the foundation he chairs shows up in plaques all over campus. Rebecca Corbett `74 formerly served on the selection committee for the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award and as a trustee for the College.
These facts are not listed to discount the merit of any of these people. I will happily listen to all of them because they are all interesting, and I recognize that speakers with ties to our beloved College are important for students currently reflecting on their experiences here. I also recognize that connections are necessary for gaining notable speechmakers. But do all four need to be so obviously tied to our president? What worries me about this is that commencement will be more about the College and what it is doing than the accomplishments of the Class of 2018, who are preparing to leave Colby, as well as reflect on it, not preparing to listen to more propaganda about what is happening here.
So, to students graduating with me: I hope you are not too critical of Collins because of her political affiliations. Instead, I urge you recognize that she will challenge us with valuable, stimulating perspectives. I feel lucky to have our other speakers who bring distinctly diverse professions to the podium. However, I hope you will be critical of who exactly our four speakers are here for, and will demand that they give critical advice for the future, rather than compliments of a community we are soon to leave.
