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Posts published in “Opinions”

Why You Should All Know Chanel Miller’s Name

After four years since her case began, Chanel Miller comes forward with her story. Up until this point, the public only knew her as “Emily Doe”, a catchall caricature of what a rape victim might look like. You might not even know her by this name, but I’m sure you recognize the name Brock Turner and all of its connotations. That’s less of a reflection of a person as an individual, and a lot more to do with the culture we inhabit that first, privileges the voices of men; second, ignores, and at worst shuns and degrades survivors; and third, upholds whiteness as an ideal. So much so that just weeks after the story broke, headlines everywhere painted the picture of a helpless white boy whose whole life was about to be taken away over “one silly mistake.”

When Transferring Schools Doesn’t Fix Everything

When I first considered transferring to Smith during my freshman year, I was intrigued by the possibility of attending a small liberal arts college. I was deeply unhappy and unfulfilled at St. John’s University, a large Catholic university close to my home in New York City. There was no strong sense of community or engagement on campus, and the school felt like the wrong fit. In high school, I struggled to fit in among high-achieving peers who aimed to attend schools like Smith. My self-esteem was low, and I wondered whether I should even bother going to college. I decided to attend St. John’s because it seemed like the most realistic option and I didn’t know what else to do. When I arrived on campus, I realized why my peers had cared so much about finding the right fit. Everything began to click: college is a formative, once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wasn’t actually living during my time at St. John’s. I was just surviving from day to day and racking up credits.