Much has changed globally and nationally over the course of this semester, but some would say not enough here at Duke. In light of this, my final column this semester brings me back to the subject of my first column this semester. That is, because in our world of growing uncertainty and unease, only one thing has become more certain: we need Donald Trump for President of Duke.
Trump is uniquely prepared to respond to students’ cries for change. He can command a crowd without getting walked over like President Broadhead was at the recent forums. And his presence would certainly alter the climate on campus—I doubt Trump would accept any vandalism on property under his management. There also wouldn’t be any debate over buildings’ names since they’d all be named Trump—and you thought it was confusing having both a quad and a building named Crowell.
Nonetheless, there are many in the Duke community who would rightfully object to the idea of Donald Trump as President of Duke, citing his misogynistic and racist comments. His narcissistic tendencies are also a concern and they might lead him to rename Duke University as Trump University. At the very least, we’d be attending a “super genius” school, and Trump’s endorsement lends far more credibility than that of U.S. News & World Report—at least that’s what Trump says.
These critics, or as Trump calls them “losers,” raise legitimate concerns, but they are ultimately irrelevant. As an ally to losers, I would not force them—but rather ask them—to consider becoming winners. What I mean by this is that I would like them to consider the alternative to Trump leading Duke and its global implications: imagine a world where Trump is President of the United States.
Making Trump President of Duke seems pretty honorable in that context, almost martyr-like. We wouldn’t even be stuck with Trump for that long—we’d just have to keep him until the election season is over and then we could fire him. Perhaps we could film it for a TV special and use the proceeds to lower tuition costs for students, or we could just hire more administrators.
The year with Trump would also allow us to better understand what we truly want from our administration. We could even give Trump a few acres in the Duke Forest to use as he pleases—I doubt we’d see him around campus much then. Who knows what he’ll build there in a year, but I’m sure it’d come together a lot quicker than any of the current construction on campus has.
I also doubt that it’d be that different with Trump leading Duke than it is now—we’d just be replacing one out-of-touch old white guy with a slightly older out-of-touch white guy. Nothing of much importance happened in 1946 anyways—besides the birth of Donald J. Trump, that is.
There are certainly some who would say that this entire scenario is unnecessarily binary since Trump will never win the Republican primary. I would like to remind them that, according to the media, “everyone” thought Trump wouldn’t make it more than a few weeks—somehow, the media’s concept of everyone failed to include a quarter of Americans.
So when the media now says that Trump will make it to Iowa, and may even win the nomination, but that there’s no need to worry because Trump will never win in a general election, remember that the media’s perception of “everyone” may be the only group batting worse than weathermen. And because there is a poll to support every argument, I’d like to point out that a recent poll found Trump leading both Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders by five points in head-to-head national matchups.
In light of these realities, I think it’s time to start fearmongering about the fearmongerers. We simply cannot continue to ignore or write-off Trump, especially considering that he seems to gain strength from being overlooked.
It’s time for us to do what Macy’s and NBC wouldn’t do. It’s time for us to make Duke a safe space for Trump. We have the choice to protect the world from the possibility of a Trump presidency—let’s choose to make America great again.
Justin Koritzinsky is a Trinity junior. His column runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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