Class of 2019, especially my white, affluent peers:

As we prepare to enter the “real world,” I implore you to think about how you want to live your life. You have so much power.

Let me repeat that: You have so much power.

It’s not a secret that oppression exists in all different forms on our small planet: racism, homophobia, transphobia, poverty, Islamophobia, etc. There are more forms of violence and suffering than we know what to do with.

I ask you to do your part in dismantling what you can.

We, Hamilton College, are currently profiting off these forms of oppression. We are on gifted Oneida land and have failed to uphold our promises to the tribe. We flourish off white supremacy and racism. Our entire country benefits off the forced manual labor of past generations of slaves, Indigenous peoples, and currently disenfranchised individuals.

I benefit too. I am at this school because European people traveled here, murdered the Indigenous people, worked the land with kidnapped slaves, exploited the environment, and worked to keep power imbalances in place. My parents saw that this country was affluent and wanted to profit off of it. But the American dream is a lie. Our country is not a meritocracy. The barriers are simply too high for immigrants who do not speak English.

I learned English on the fly in my preschool classroom and after years of blindly working towards a college education, I am here at an institution that exists because of inequality, war, violence, and exploitation. And I am getting a damn good deal. I’m getting the opportunity to be respected as an educated adult and hopefully work a comfortable white-collar job that pays well and allows me to be ignorant of the suffering around the world.

But if Hamilton is really the college “on a hill” we like to imagine it to be, we must push ourselves to strive for a life more than this. If we are truly to be innovators and role models in our country, we can no longer stand for the centuries of injustice to which we personally contribute.

Although everyone’s circumstances are different and I do not want to shame anyone for providing for their families, I ask that we all think of ways to incorporate breaking down our current oppressive systems into our everyday lives.

So many of us come from privilege and will live out the rest of our lives in privilege. The amount of students who live in million dollar houses is incredible. These students are very likely to buy their own million dollar houses without so much as an idea of what it’s like to struggle. We are so sheltered from climate change, poverty, hardship, and genocide by our money.

If every person in our graduating class contributed to positive, humane change, we could have a significant impact. Our peers who are going to work jobs that pay 6 figures could donate a small sum of money every month to activists who need it the most. Our peers in legal fields and government agencies can work to fight the system of oppression from inside of it. Our peers in the arts and education can give disenfranchised students the opportunity to have their own voice. Most of all, we can implement small habits in our lives that reflect thoughtful compassion and justice. My point is not to dictate every moment of your life but to encourage a focus on civic responsibility, whether through donating to charity or educating yourself on systematic oppression. We can change not only our own lifestyles but also galvanize the people around us to join us in the effort to create a world we want to live in. We have so much power and so much to give.

I’m not asking that you give your life, but your heart.

We can only work to create a better world through compassion. We must care about each other if we want a society that works together and does the least amount of harm possible. We cannot continue to profit off of slave labor, environmental destruction, and cruelty. This is an unsustainable model and we are on a path to an uninhabitable planet.

To the administrators, the College cannot simply go on the way it is. We must make amends for our broken promises with the Oneida nation. We must have mandatory education on oppression around the world and in our own home. What use is educating students if they are ignorant of what is most important? Learning how to make money is not what is most important.

What use is money if there is no world to spend it in? If we do not have compassion and self-awareness within ourselves? That kind of life is empty and devoid of what is good in the world.

The technical problems that the College faces in making these changes are simply excuses. If an institution with this much power and money fails to do what’s right, who can succeed? The College needs to set the example and the tone. They need foster a sense of real community amongst the students that is built off the foundation of a shared humanity. The College must foster a sense of responsibility to the world because we are all interconnected, whether we like to admit it or not.

The cold tundra that is Central New York can feel hostile, but the College, administrators and individual students combined can work towards being the warm and inviting light on a hill we strive to be.

To all of the disadvantaged students: congratulations, we did it. We surmounted the odds and succeeded. We are here and we have bright futures ahead of us. But, let’s not forget those who weren’t able to come with us for this journey. As many of us as there are on this campus, there are so many more who did not have the same opportunities or luck. I hope that enduring this process of oppression hasn’t hardened our hearts so much that we cease to care for those among us who need the most help.

I understand the desire to be financially comfortable. This is something I desperately want for myself and my parents who have worked tirelessly for decades. I am sick and tired of being poor and being constantly worried about how I am going to pay for necessities. I’m exhausted from being in constant fear that something is going to happen that I won’t have the resources to recover from. I’m weary of worrying about my parents’ health and old age because of their hazardous jobs and unsafe working conditions.

But — and this is my own personal opinion that I never want to impose on anyone who has been in a similar circumstance — I also want to work so that no other little girl feels the way I do.

I don’t want to hear of children rummaging through trash for food.

I don’t want to hear of separations of families by financial circumstances or government violence.

I don’t want to hear of people who are unable to inhabit their homes because of dangerous conditions or climate change.

I don’t want to hear that there are people who work constantly and are still unable to provide for themselves and their families.

I’m sick and tired of these tragedies. So I ask you, every member of the Hamilton College community, to open your heart to the suffering of yourself and those around you so that we can all, every single one of us, do our share in making our planet a better home. As cliche as it is, we are beginning our lives as full fledged adults with more responsibility than we’ve ever had. Let’s take the collective power of 500 smart, capable, privileged adults and make our mark on the world.