Putting your words into action

One of Tufts' goals is to foster citizenship and leadership in its students. But what does that mean for those of us receiving our diplomas today? Have we really learned how to be active citizens, and are we committed to being politically and civically engaged? How can we put Tufts' grandiose words of fostering active citizenship into meaningful action?

Tufts does an excellent job of creating globally and socially conscious graduates. Many of us are active in community service during our tenure at Tufts. Nearly half of us study abroad, and most of us keep informed and care about what is going on in the world. After graduation, many of us seek employment and other opportunities abroad, and Tufts continues to be a top contributor to the Peace Corps. But community service is only one part of the solution. Political participation is also necessary to be truly engaged and active citizens.

Nearly 90 percent of those in our generation have been involved in community service and believe that it is an important way to solve social problems. But only a small fraction of us feels that way about political service. We have all been told repeatedly how important it is to vote and to be engaged politically, but many of us have little to no faith in our political system.

Recent events on campus and around the country underscore the importance of being politically involved. If we do not make our voices heard and our presence felt, then another year might pass without a Fall Fest and Spring Fling, the Senate might continue to quibble over who gets to act as president when one steps down and how many candidates can run for president, and students will continue to have to move off-campus into potentially dangerous housing due to the lack of options on campus.

If we do not make our voices heard and our presence felt, politicians will continue to say that they ignore us because we ignore them, we will see unrepresentative intolerance from elected officials, such as Rick Santorum and Jim Moran, and decisions of war and peace will continue to be made without balanced, national debates. We witnessed many protests over the war in Iraq, but little political opposition. Where were the voices of our Congressmen and Senators that are supposed to represent us? Maybe they were silent because we were. We were too busy interrupting speeches of former Presidents instead of demanding more accountability and representation from those who are supposed to serve and represent us.

The argument is not that social activism is a waste of time. Far from it. Social activism, volunteerism, and community service comprise only half of the solution, though. Political participation is essential for effective and positive change. To those who argue that getting involved doesn't matter and doesn't make a difference, it is more than just caring about politics and getting involved. Our challenge is to move beyond that and change it - if we don't like the system, and it is obvious that we don't, we need to make a difference so that we can inspire those who come behind us to get involved. Let us pledge to leave things better than we found them. Let us decide as a generation to reject the petty political games of the previous generation and let us pledge to revitalize politics as united leaders, holding ourselves accountable to a new standard.

Let us commit ourselves to voting, working for campaigns, voicing our opinions to our public servants, and even running for office. We can only change things if we pledge to get involved ourselves.

Some argue that politics is a sketchy game that they don't want to play and that there is no point in getting involved because those who try to change the game end up losing. Our challenge is not to worry about the game. There are two types of people who run for political office: those who run just to get elected, who view their office as an end in itself, and those who run because they have great ideas, and see the office as a means to an end, as a way to change things and make things better. That is our challenge: to become involved, to play the game if necessary, but only so we can move beyond that and do great things. The first step is getting involved, not declaring defeat without even attempting to put up a fight.

Many Tufts graduates have stepped up to the challenge: Nanda Chitre, former Assistant Spokesperson for the State Department and former Deputy Assistant to President Clinton and his Deputy Press Secretary; Colin Durrant, Assistant Director for Common Cause, Massachusetts; Michael Feldman, senior advisor to Vice President Gore; Jesse Levey, Larry Harris, Jack Schnirman, and Erin Ross of United Leaders; Bill Richardson, former Energy Secretary for President Clinton; Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former Senator from New York; John Olver, Congressman from Massachusetts; Frank Pallone, Congressman from New Jersey; and Peter DeFazio, Congressman from Oregon. They are among the politically engaged grads who were inspired by Tufts' pledge to inculcate the notion of active citizen participation within its students. Let us follow in their tradition and, whatever our individual views, pledge not only as a campus but also as a generation, to revitalize politics and solve the very real world problems that we are about to inherit.

As we graduate and go about our lives, let us incorporate the ideals of service that Tufts and the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) taught us. Let us have the originality to choose jobs based on where we can make the most difference. Let us have the courage to stand up for our convictions. Let us not treat community service and political activism as mutually exclusive ways to create a positive impact in our communities. When we leave Walnut Hill for the last time as undergraduates, let us put Tufts' lessons and words into action.