Not Aborting My Plan

I was walking on campus today, backpack tight against my shoulders, one headphone in my ear, phone in my back pocket, when I saw a poster calling me a baby killer. [excerpt

I\u27m In Pain, But You Can\u27t See It

Two weeks after I returned home from my freshman year at Gettysburg, I suffered a nervous breakdown. I couldn’t get out of bed even though I was unable to sleep. I had no appetite and it felt like pins and needles were constantly poking at my hands and feet. I spent hours wishing for sleep so that I could get some relief, yet I felt so terrified of the possibility that dreams would follow unconsciousness that I turned lights on, played loud music, and sat at my desk in an attempt to do anything that would prevent me from falling asleep. I had become detached from reality, unable to distinguish between what was happening in the world and what was happening in my head. [excerpt

The First Year Frat Experience

It was September 14th and my three weeks were up. I had told myself I had three weeks to make friends. Three weeks before Greek life would dominate the social scene. Publicly, I decried the three week rule, writing it off as dumb or lame. Privately, a part of me wished it could last forever. That night, while my floor pregamed in their rooms, I stayed in mine. I spent a long night alone, listening to the music blasting from dorm rooms and down the streets. I decided to shut the lights off because I didn’t want the world to see what a loser I was. Looking back, I don’t think the world cared, they were too busy having a good time. I went to bed that night promising myself that I would not spend another Friday night alone in my room. I knew I was going to regret not going for a long time. Or so I thought. [excerpt

Pacifism Against the Alt-Right

In 1944, Dr. Ancel Keys took 36 volunteers and used them as subjects for what would become known as the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. These men were all conscientious objectors to war who wanted to find a nonviolent way to help those affected by the Nazi regime. One solution was to participate in Dr. Key’s study to evaluate systematic rehabilitation of those who had been starved, such as the victims in Stalingrad—and later in Hitler’s concentration camps—had been. They contributed a great deal to the allied powers, and to those the study was designed to help, while not fighting Nazis directly. [excerpt

Q&A: Privilege and Allyship

Question: I’ve always wondered about this: as a white, heterosexual male person who cares about the way minorities and marginalized populations are treated, what gives me the right to feel offended or call someone out on something they say that’s a definite gray area when I don’t belong to that group? I believe that as a privileged individual it is my responsibility to advocate as an ally but it would conversely be an exercise of my privilege if I were to be the one to decide what is and isn’t offensive to a whole group of people I don’t belong to. So my question is: what is the moral implication and the power dynamic of a privileged person being offended on a minority’s behalf? Is it right? Is privileged? Is it audacious? I need to know! [excerpt