Bates College SCARAB The aB tes Student Archives and Special Collections 1-27-2016 The aB tes Student - volume 146 number 11 - January 27, 2016 Bates College Follow this and additional works at: https://scarab.bates.edu/bates_student Recommended Citation Bates College, "The aB tes Student - volume 146 number 11 - January 27, 2016" (2016). This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the Archives and Special Collections at SCARAB. It has been accepted for inclusion in The aB tes Student by an authorized administrator of SCARAB. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Bates Student THE VOICE OF BATES COLLEGE SINCE 1873 WEDNESDAY January 27, 2016 Vol. 146, Issue. 11 Lewiston, Maine FORUM ARTS & LEISURE SPORTS Dean of Students Josh McIntosh Hopkins ’18 reviews MLK Day Men’s basketball falls and Title IX Officer Gwen Lexow 2016’s Sankofa performance, to Conn College and respond to Charlotte Cramer’s “All That We Are: The Afro- Wesleyan, dropping call to action in last week’s Woman’s Story” to 8th in the NESCAC edition See Page 2 See Page 6 See Page 8 Confronting hate at Donald Trump rallies: Bates An interview with Kiernan Majerus-Collins ’18 feels the TEDDY RUBE STAFF WRITER Bern Kiernan Majerus-Collins ’18 re- Bates Democrats ally likes attending Donald Trump rallies. Since last June, Majerus- to canvas in New Collins has attended not one, but Hampshire this three events starring the billionaire businessman running for president. weekend Majerus-Collins doesn’t, however, make attendance a habit because HANNAH GOLDBERG he likes what the candidate has to MANAGING NEWS EDITOR say. An avowed progressive and a former Democratic campaign man- Bates loves Bernie. From the ager, he attends these events to pro- native Vermonters to the environ- test Trump’s words and publicize mentally and socially conscious what he views as the real danger of people on campus, people at Bates Trump’s campaign: the vitriol and seem to gravitate towards the fire of racism of his supporters. Videos of presidential candidate Bernie Sand- him confronting Trump supporters ers’ campaign, close enough to feel the Bern. have gained him social media fame Kiernan Majerus-Collins confronting a Trump supporter during the rally. KIERNAN MAJERUS-COLLINS/COURTESY PHOTO and notoriety. The Student sat down This weekend, Bates for Bernie, with Kiernan to ask him about his Collins and a companion can be into furious bouts of profanity. An- didates, they don’t respect people who a subgroup of the Bates Democrats, experiences at these rallies. seen sitting in the crowd holding other Trump supporter accused all disagree with them, and basically will head into New Hampshire go- neon green cardboard signs with the Muslims of cannibalism. A crowd their response is to become violent and ing door to door to share Bernie’s The Bates Student: I’ve read slogans, “America’s Already Great” of bystanders ringed the arguers thuggish when confronted with any- message. Bates for Bernie works that you’ve been to three Trump and “God Bless Obama,” scrawled in morbid fascination, filming on one who isn’t already in lockstep with alongside multiple New Hampshire rallies. Are you a glutton for pun- in black sharpie. As Trump’s voice smartphones and iPads. them. Bernie offices and his Portland, ishment? droned unabated in the background, Maine, office. According to Bates Kiernan Majerus-Collins: annoyed Trump supporters grabbed BS: Tell us about the videos of BS: What was Donald Trump Dems member and canvassing co- Since Trump’s campaign began in the signs and tore them into pieces. your confrontations with Trump himself like? Did you get any sense ordinator Will Bryer ’16, his cam- June, I’ve been to three events. The first As the crowd became increas- supporters. Were you surprised to of the charisma and energy that paign puts on these volunteer events was in June in New Hampshire, his ingly belligerent, burly men in green have this sort of interaction? has captivated so many? every weekend. There is also a Bates first campaign rally ever. And two this jackets—Trump’s personal secu- KMC: It was kind of a shock to KMC: Every single event it was: for Hillary Clinton group, but “the past January, in Lowell, Massachu- rity—escorted Majerus-Collins and see that what had previously been al- Trump’s entering, the crowd surges [Bates Democrats] club doesn’t en- setts, and Concord, New Hampshire. his companion out of the rally while most a piece of performance art—the to its feet, there’s this energetic roar! dorse either candidate” officially, the Trump supporters shouted, “Get Donald Trump campaign previously It was like there was a football team Bryer said. BS: What was the first rally ‘em out of here” and “USA! USA!” was this surreal ridiculous thing—has entering the stadium, but it was “We’ve chosen to wait to en- like? A man off-camera leveled the ac- become quite real and quite frighten- just Donald Trump. He walked out dorse a candidate until after primary KMC: At the first rally in June cusation, “He looks like Hillary!” ing since June. His supporters have to “Eye of the Tiger.” It’s like you’re season,” added Bates Democrats there were 300 people, it was kind of (Majerus-Collins, a towering and become emboldened in ways that are watching the New England Patriots Co-President Carly Peruccio ’16. cartoonish, you know, it’s like there’s lanky man with flat black hair, large really, really scary. I think that one of round the tunnel or something. And “There are members of the Bates this billionaire blowhard, not that rectangular glasses, and the smooth the main reasons why I’m doing this he gets up on the podium and starts Dems who support Hillary, Bernie, many people, the room’s not even full, voice of a choir singer, looks nothing is because, despite how much Don- doing his thing… Trump is on from and O’Malley, and there are others it’s like a college gym. I stood there like the former Secretary of State.) ald Trump dominates our news, most the moment he walks onto the stage who haven’t decided yet.” with my sign [criticizing Trump’s re- A second video, taken by a by- people don’t recognize the kind of base to the end. Sometimes he’s funny and Peruccio hopes volunteer efforts marks about Mexican immigrants] stander in the bitter cold outside level bigotry and hatred his support- sometimes he’s angry, but there is no like this one will help involve more and got lots of comments from people. of a January 19th rally in Concord, ers are peddling and how fervently like…[motions up and down with his Bates students in the presidential Some were kind, some were not, but NH, is even more charged. Majerus- and violently they believe this. Partly hands]…he’s always at top energy, top election. “We serve the role of con- there was no real problem as to thug- Collins, wearing only a t-shirt with because Donald Trump is such a car- volume, all of the time. There’s no dy- necting politically engaged students gish behavior. That clearly changed at the hastily-written words “I have a toonish character that it is hard to see namic contrast, it’s just a big blaring with others who share the same some point during his campaign. By dream” on the back, attempted to past the bad hair and bragging to the bullhorn of political rhetoric. aims,” she added. the time I went to the second event in debate a large bald man in a business part of his campaign that has mobi- Students are able to organize Lowell holding a sign that said “Amer- suit over whether ISIS represents all lized millions of American racists to go BS: How orange did Trump their own initiatives—this event was ica is already great,” it was cause for Muslims. “There are bad people of on the warpath. look? spearheaded at Bates by Bryer. “At me to be harassed, have my sign torn all religions,” Majerus-Collins re- KMC: Surprisingly orange. It the end of the day, we’re united by up and be kicked out of the rally. The peated over and over, his right arm BS: So, you think you’re par- was surprising how sort of…decrepit our shared commitment to electing video of that ended up going viral. gesturing forcefully but his voice tially doing a public service by he looked. There’s clearly a lot of work progressive candidates at the presi- low and controlled. “ISIS is not Is- showing what his supporters are that goes into making Donald Trump dential, congressional, and local lev- Majerus-Collins refers to one of lam,” he said. actually like? look even semi-reasonable on televi- els,” Peruccio said. two videos of his clashes with Trump Unconvinced, his opponent KMC: My hope is that these en- sion. Because when you get up close With Bernie currently one point supporters that have emerged on shouted at Majerus-Collins, “Islam counters with Trump supporters will to him, he is an old man with a bad ahead of Hillary in Iowa and bound- both social media and traditional is all one” and “if you are a Muslim, help to get people to realize just what tan and bad hair. He seemed drugged ing ahead in New Hampshire, the news outlets, including the Lewis- you follow Satan!” The confronta- we’re dealing with in this campaign. almost.