Following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, more than 20 Boston University students and faculty gathered at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies Friday afternoon, titled “What Lies Ahead?”
The open-ended conversation, which was part of the Pardee School’s “Behind the Headlines” discussion series, provided a space for Pardee students and faculty to voice their thoughts on the incoming Trump administration, especially with regards to changes in domestic and foreign policy.
Pardee Dean Adil Najam kicked off the meeting by addressing the global significance of Trump being sworn into office.
“Something has shifted and it feels like we’ve been in that moment,” Najam said. “Today is a day many people — at least from this part of town — did not expect.”
Najam then opened up the discussion to the room and allowed attendees to engage in conversation without enforcing a specific structure of discussion.
“We thought, because it was Inauguration Day, maybe it was a good time for us to get together and just talk amongst ourselves about what lies ahead,” Najam said.
Pardee professor Min Ye spoke about the emphasis in Trump’s inaugural speech on cultivating the American spirit. Ye said she is concerned about how the new administration will handle these issues.
“The earlier administration dealt with global politics but forgot to deal with domestic politics,” Ye said. “But I think this one will be taking care of their own domestic politics and be against globalization.”
Ye also addressed the appeal of Trump’s nationalist agenda to the American people.
“I think that nationalist appeal of Trump spoke much more directly to the domestic audience than other candidates,” Ye said.
During the discussion, Najam voiced concern about how one-sided the conversation in the room was.
“No matter how you count the votes, this conversation does not reflect the country,” Najam said. “That seems to me to be one of the biggest challenges.”
The discussion then turned to address the gravity of Trump’s election and the protesting and unrest across the country that has followed. Many attendees noted the uniqueness of this election in comparison to those that preceded it.
First-year Pardee graduate student Ryan Wayne said during the discussion that people’s decision to vote for Trump is an emotional reaction.
“I’ve never seen an election in which people’s feelings override their own better judgement and their own rationalization about America,” Wayne said.
Several students who attended the discussion said afterwards that they found the conversation to be a good platform to share ideas and concerns about America’s future under a Trump administration.
Matthias Grenon, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the town hall meeting was an opportunity to talk with the Pardee School community.
“I was able to gain economic input, social input and political perspectives.” Grenon said.
Leanne Quinn, a freshman in CAS, said she found the event to be fascinating, particularly because it included people who had a better understanding of what is going on right now than she did.
“I was sort of more interested in their interpretation of why this happened,” Quinn said.
She said she found Trump’s proposed foreign policies worrisome.
“I would hope there are more checks and balances put into place to unilaterally affect change that might not be for the best interest for the U.S.” Quinn said.
Jennifer Kelley, a second-year Pardee graduate student, said discussions like this fail to offer a broad enough perspective on the Trump administration.
“We’re in a bubble in the Northeast where academics have a similar mindset, but there are these voices that may be different,” Kelly said. “We need to hear everyone’s opinions, and try to understand what’s going on.”
