On a hot August day in 2001, then-Provost Sol Gittleman addressed the class of 2005 at their matriculation ceremony. As the eager freshmen crowd sweated in the sun, the Provost described how the defining moment of his generation was the attack on Pearl Harbor. He then looked into the audience and asked, "What will be your Pearl Harbor?"
Thirteen days later, the United States was attacked, and our generation became defined by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Three years later, we are faced with a choice that will have a lasting impact on both our nation as a whole and on our personal lives. We face a world that feels increasingly hostile to America and a domestic front that lacks enough well-paying jobs for the population. The middle class is shrinking and the income gap is getting wider according to information from the Census Bureau in 2003.
This nation remains vulnerable to attack, with 95 percent of containers entering the United States without inspection. After the terrorist attacks, the American people and the world looked to George W. Bush for leadership in uncertain times. We are still looking.
John Kerry, a man of strong principle with a lifetime of public service, is the right man to lead this nation. Kerry realizes that the peace cannot be won by the sword alone and that times of global threat require worldwide cooperation. Kerry has often been criticized for being overly nuanced, but adaptability is not a negative quality in a world where there are few certainties.
Bush and Kerry came from similar backgrounds, but the contrast between the two men could not be clearer. Both were educated at elite New England boarding schools and went to Yale - and were even members of the same secret society, the Skull and Bones.
Kerry decided to serve his country during combat in Vietnam, while Bush stayed in Texas to serve with the National Guard. Kerry has spent his adult life in the public service, as a prosecutor, lieutenant governor and senator.
Bush has accused Kerry of flip-flopping on issues, but he has flip-flopped on the most important issue of this election - the war in Iraq. He went into war justifying it on the basis that there were weapons of mass destruction in order to gain public support for a pre-emptive war. All evidence up to this point indicates that there were never weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Instead of admitting fault, Bush decided to fabricate new justifications for the war - saying it was morally right to bring democracy to the Middle East, and that Iraq had the desire to create weapons of mass destruction. If these were the true reasons, they should have been mentioned before the United States went into war in 2003. These flimsy excuses should not fool the American people next week.
Bush ran in 2000 on a platform of compassionate conservatism, which was his attempt to connect with moderate voters. Bush's policies, however, have been neither compassionate nor conservative: we have seen the return of a massive budget deficit and will most likely witness the first net job loss during a presidential term since Hoover.
Given a razor-thin mandate, Bush stocked his administration with neoconservatives who have taken the opportunity to transform domestic policy into a realm of tax cuts for the wealthy and tough love for the working.
Kerry will ensure that our generation will be secure not only from terrorist attacks but also from erosion of freedom at home. An administration that allows for American citizens to be detained indefinitely, without access to a lawyer - a decision later struck down by the Supreme Court - does not respect the constitutional rights of American citizens and is not fit to lead.
Kerry will make sure our generation has economic opportunity after graduation by creating corporate tax incentives to keep jobs in America, while making sure tax relief is provided to the middle and working classes by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Our generation simply cannot afford another four years of a Bush presidency. Bush has proven himself to be unfit to lead this country, due to his fiscal irresponsibility and international recklessness. John Kerry, in contrast, is a man of great fortitude who will guide America responsibly and with regard to international law. This is an election young people simply can't afford to miss, and one in which America cannot afford to lose.
