Dear Colleagues

Some of us have spent time at colleges or universities where people are sometimes punished for expressing a particular thought or having a particular identity—institutions where everyone knows that it is not safe to say something or be someone that some professor (or professors) or some administrator (or a whole administration) does not approve of. In those environments we have learned fear—fear of the price of being who we are and of saying what we believe. It is a tragic thing to have to live that way. I am confident that I speak for the people who lead this law school—the professors and the administrators—when I say that our law school is *not* such a place. There is no need for fear here. Be who you are, say what you think, and welcome everyone else in our community (and all of our guests) to be and do the same. But it can be difficult to unlearn fear. And so it is entirely understandable that you might worry about such things even at our school, until you gain confidence that we are who we say we are: a constantly changing and growing, yet consistently honorable and civil, community of inquisitive and energetic students and practitioners of one of the essential components of any decent society: the law. I cannot guarantee you that everyone will always be a perfect manifestation of all that good stuff (indeed, I suspect none of us ever will be), but I am quite sure that we try in good faith. Nor, I am sure, will this note be enough by itself to fully reassure anyone who has known the kind of fear I mentioned at the top of this message. But I do hope it helps.

This is a school where we work together to make the most of a great educational environment, to elevate each other, and to make the world a better place. To the extent we can show the rest of the world how to do those things, all the better!

Sincerely,

Ángel Cabrera:

Dear Patriot,

Our mission defines us as an innovative and inclusive academic community committed to creating a more just, free, and prosperous world.

This was our mission the day before the election and it remains our mission today. If anything, the bitter campaign that just ended and the divisions in our society it highlighted suggest that our mission has never been more important and necessary.

Today, more than ever, we must keep working hard to help students of all backgrounds learn and grow. We must double down on our scholarship to deepen our understanding of the world we live in and to find new solutions to the complex issues that we face.

We must reaffirm our commitment to embracing a multitude of people and ideas in everything that we do, to respecting differences, and to protecting the freedom of all members of our community to seek truth and express their views.

We must continue to hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards as educators, scholars, students, and professionals, and we must continue to nurture a positive and collaborative environment that contributes to the well-being and success of every member of our community.

Since the results of the election were announced, I have heard too many stories of students and faculty feeling fearful about their place in society and in our university.

Let me be clear:

If you are Muslim or Jewish or Christian, you belong at Mason.
If you grew up in Mexico City, Islamabad, or Roanoke, you belong at Mason.
If you are part of the LGBT community, you belong at Mason.
If you are Black or Brown or White, you belong at Mason.
If you voted for Clinton or for Trump or anyone else, you belong at Mason.

Whatever your background is, your uniqueness represents the very essence and incredible strength of our university. You make Mason, Mason.

I feel fortunate to work for an institution that strives to create opportunity for all, to make our world more educated, more civil, more understanding, and more inclusive. I am proud to work with you. Let’s keep at it. The world needs us.

To provide a space for employees to share their thoughts on the presidential election, Mason’s Human Resources came to the law school to facilitated an open forum for conversations. I was curious to hear what staff and faculty members have to say. Unfortunately only my colleague and I showed up.

There were just the four of us: Three Black women and one Vietnamese guy. Listening to what they had to say helped me move forward. They were as shocked and powerless as I. The path forward starts with ourselves.

I had begun to accept the reality. If this is what America meant to be, then let it be. I am tuning out of politics as much as I can. I even avoid reading my favorite magazine—The New Yorker—and focus on reading books. I cut down my doses of social media and use this blog to share my thoughts. Most importantly, I devote my attention to my family.

I spoke to a colleague whose last name happens to be Khan and she almost choked up. We didn’t utter his name, but we both knew what had happened to this beloved country. Home of the free is now only for a certain people, and not for everyone. It’s now clear that America is not above racist, sexist, and supremacist. Eight years ago, we elected our first black president and moved the country forward. Yesterday, we had chosen to take American backward. I finally understood the meaning behind his slogan: Make AmeriKKKa Great Again. It’s “An American Tragedy.”

How am I going to tell my son in the morning that the smart woman he was rooting for had lost to a man who mocked the disabled? How do we get to this? No matter how smart a woman is, she is never going to be able to compete against a man. Bullies, sexists, and racists still can be a president. America will face its darkest days ahead, but let’s just keep move forward. I did my part, but the country has spoken so we just have to live with it for four more years. I don’t know if I still have the strength and stomach to keep up with politics. It is appalling. Let’s just hope for the best for our future. I am closing out my chapter on politics and focusing on something else.

Although I voted early, I took the day off work. In the morning, I took my mother-in-law to the hospital for her bronchoscopy test. The procedure took the entire morning. During the waiting period CNN was on the entire time, but I focused on reading about grammar instead.

At noon, I took my wife and the boys to sushi buffet. I had two plates full of sushi and sashimi complemented with a bottle of hot saké. While my wife and I made a toast to Hillary’s victory, Đán immersed himself with four bowls of ice cream. CNN was also on, but I paid no attention to it.

After feeling bloated, we headed to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather until time for dinner. We just had pizza at 7:00 p.m.

After the kids go to bed, I will be up to see the final result. I still have confidence that she will win.

I am glad that tomorrow is the last day, but I am also anxious to find out the result. This election has affected me deeply. It has become part of my daily stress even though I can’t do nothing about it. Whatever the final result tomorrow, I just have to accept it.

If Hillary wins, I will be excited to witness the first women president and I am sure she will be a great one, at least for the next four years. She has clear political policies to move this country forward. Her heart is in the right place. I am confident and proud if she wins tomorrow.

If Trump wins, I will be worried, but the people had spoken. I just have to accept him and hope that he won’t do too much damage in the next four years. America will be changed forever from the Supreme Court to everything else.

America has played a bad joke and it is coming back to bite us in the ass. We all laughed at Donald Trump when he said he would run for president. Who’s got the last laugh now?

After tomorrow, I will be tuned out of all this craziness. Getting sucked into politics is fascinating but also draining. I should just going back to being ignorant about politics. One more day to go. I can do it.

Amy Davidson:

Since conceding defeat in the primaries, Sanders has been one of the real champions of this campaign. He let his supporters yell at him and deride him as a sellout in bleak delegate breakfasts at the Democratic National Convention, in Philadelphia, as he endorsed Clinton and explained why they needed to do the same. He made getting support for her his priority, putting aside any subtle, undermining gestures that might have better preserved his rebel-rock-star status. He has kept doing so despite other revelations in the Podesta e-mails, ones that are not about him personally but about issues that he believes in—for example, about money in politics, as exemplified by the Clinton team’s nurturing of donors. And he has earned the right to negotiate hard on such issues in the future.

Ian Crouch on Samantha Bee:

If Clinton gets under Trump’s skin because she is a powerful woman with the gumption to challenge him, imagine how crazy Bee must drive him, assuming any of his handlers have had the courage to tell him some of the things she’s called him: “leering dildo,” “first grader with a head injury,” “tangerine-tinted trash-can fire,” “screaming carrot demon.” Talk about, to use Trump’s phrase, a nasty woman.

Bee is killing it.

Elizabeth Kolbert:

Donald Trump is the kind of jerk who authentically, genuinely, unabashedly inhabits his own jerkiness. The indifference to reality he’s displayed on the campaign trail is the same indifference he displayed as a businessman, a husband, a boss, and a taxpayer. His narcissism, petulance, and whatever other character flaw you care to choose aren’t under wraps; they’re on view for all to see and hear. In this sense, he truly is the real thing.

She concludes:

Trump’s disregard for propriety, for principles, and for anyone else’s view of the world is heartfelt. As a consequence, his lies have the emotional resonance of truth. And this is precisely what makes him so dangerous.