We can't all be elected prime minister of a European country, but we can still look up to one illustrious Tufts alumnus who has set such an example. The re-election two weeks ago of Fletcher graduate Costas Karamanlis as prime minister of Greece marks a high point this fall for the extended Tufts community. It can be inspiring to think that one student who sat in lecture on the Hill took his education so far afield.
Thankfully, we do not have to go so far to make a difference. Our proximity to New Hampshire gives Tufts students a unique opportunity to truly change the course of American politics. With such an important primary state less than a two-hour drive from campus, activism becomes that much more potent. Politically engaged undergraduates at other colleges and universities across the country would probably swoon at the possibility lying at our doorstep.
We commend the enthusiasm of Tufts students who traveled up to Dartmouth last week to support various candidates at the Democratic debate and those who have already taken the initiative to canvass voters up north. These students are taking civic responsibility to heart.
Moving political involvement outside of discussions with our roommates and making a step beyond filling out absentee ballots gives us the opportunity to disprove those who might label ours the self-absorbed, "entitlement generation," as the Boston Globe described us in a Sept. 30 news article entitled, "The New Me Generation."
The 2008 election represents a chance for us to become part of a movement greater than ourselves. It may sound trite, but this sentiment is an important one to keep in mind. There is a reason that students are typically known as agitators of change: We are idealists and we aren't tied down by the obligations of work or family.
It is fair to say that the average Tufts student sees plenty of room for change in a country that struggles to ensure health care for its children while fighting a war that a majority of citizens think is hopeless. If there ever was a moment to take truly meaningful action, it would seem that this election season would be it. Although activism in most forms is laudable, striving to make a difference in your own country, near your own home, is often the most effective way to catalyze change.
We don't need to reiterate here the complaints that have been lodged against Tufts students in the past few weeks. At times, it might seem that undergraduates are only concerned with partying - and then with dealing with the ramifications that hit after partying too hard.
But we are only one month into a school year which holds the possibility for more positive news (including the chance that another Tufts alumnus might emerge victorious from an election in this country) if Tufts students are willing to take seriously the challenges and opportunities before them.
