In the United States, the slow creep into autocracy has turned into a free fall. The use of state violence and repression has become so frequent, we can’t keep up with every new incident. This past week, something broke inside of me when I saw the photo of Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old boy, in his bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, who ICE agents used as bait to lure his father, an asylum seeker, out of their home. On Saturday, my rage boiled over when I watched the video of Border Patrol agents publicly executing observer Alex Pretti, who was attempting to help another protester who had been thrown to the ground. Following these incidents, our political leaders responded with blatant lies, blaming the victims and calling reporting on these events a leftist hoax. This is what George Orwell warned of us in 1984: “The Party told you to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

In the last few years, many universities, including Bucknell, have adopted a policy of institutional neutrality, aimed at restoring public trust in universities and creating spaces for more diverse opinions. Some adopted this policy in response to protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. At Bucknell, we’ve had relatively few student protests and continue to receive good ratings for free speech on campus. And yet, there have been signs of our university’s anticipatory obedience to this administration’s attacks on higher education, including the rebranding and weakening of our Equity and Inclusive Excellence Office. Our leadership has made it clear: they prefer not to rock the boat.

The time to change that stance is now. What is happening in our country is no longer about electoral politics or opinions. It is about guaranteeing the continued freedom to have electoral politics and opinions. Institutes of higher education are supposed to be places of reason, moral integrity, scientific inquiry and human possibility. How can we maintain public trust in those principles if we wall ourselves off from the attacks on our safety, democracy and freedom?

Last week, we all received emails from President Bravman and Provost Sternberg inviting us to attend MLK events with the theme “The Time Is Always Right to Do Right.” Well, the time has come to do right. It gives me whiplash that our university leaders invite us to events celebrating MLK while saying nothing about the erosion of our civil liberties in real time.

As I write this, our leadership is focusing on the new Bucknell Initiative for Dialogue and Democracy to make Bucknell “a leader in the national effort to break down polarization and foster difficult dialogue.” (can’t find) Faculty continually receive communications from President Bravman and Provost Sternberg citing “the divisiveness” on our campus and in our country. I implore them to see the bigger picture: the very foundation of our democracy and free society is at stake. It is time to take a stand. Make Bucknell a leader in standing up to tyranny. When you act with courage, others will follow suit.

The peril of staying silent is far greater than the minimal risks to the institution in speaking out. If we had time machines, would we travel back to 1933 Germany and say “let’s hear the Nazis out?” Would we go back to 1865 and try to reason with the KKK? Paramilitary forces on the streets of our communities defy the constitution with the full backing of our government. The Trump administration seeks a pretense to cancel elections. If we remain silent, none of us are safe. 

I revisited a speech by M. Gessen, remarks written for their acceptance of the 2023 Hannah Arendt Prize (an award given to those who resist totalitarian political tactics). Gessen spoke of the Bialystok Ghetto in Poland where their great-grandfather went from attempting to keep order to helping to organize an uprising. His position changed when he knew the Holocaust was possible. What should we learn from that brave man? Gessen says it beautifully,  “We are not any smarter, kinder, wiser, or more moral than people who lived ninety years ago. We are just as likely to needlessly give up our political power and to remain willfully ignorant of darkness as it’s dawning. But we know something they didn’t know: we know that the Holocaust is possible.”

We must resist the darkness of state violence and autocracy while we still can. Refuse to allow ICE on our campus. Make a public statement about Bucknell’s commitment to civil liberties. We must not normalize what is happening in our country.