An election for Student Association president will take place on April 17 and 18. For the first time since at least 2012, the election will be a contested campaign. The race is fun and important to the people who care, but certainly not worth the type of cheap shot the SUNY Oswego College Republicans took on Omar van Reenen last Friday.
Unsurprisingly, the comments on the Facebook post in defense of the presidential candidate turned the situation even uglier. The original Instagram post was strange, primarily because I never thought Joe Jonas’s music was good enough to inspire such enthusiastic fandom. Legal risks aside, I would not want to be close enough to a Joe Jonas performance to hear it, let alone grab him personally.
Musical tastes notwithstanding, College Republicans’ attempt to weaponize a topical-yet-serious issue like sexual assault was distasteful at best and divisive at worst. Campaigns involving many ambitious organizations and two bright, qualified candidates will inevitably get thorny. But we are all peers with futures, and it is the SA presidency at stake, not the United States. Have some perspective.
The most shocking line in the College Republicans’ statement was that promoting sexual assault is “in today’s world, more prevalent than ever.” Sexual assault is not more prevalent than ever, and it reveals their cynical use of the term when they suggest the issue is worse now simply because there is a hashtag attached to it.
The motivation behind the #MeToo movement, as evident in its name, is to bring awareness to an uncomfortable truth that for too long has gone unrecognized. The real issue of sexual assault has been going on for centuries. Only now, people are finally beginning to talk about it. It took an awfully creative interpretation to see an implication of sexual assault in the caption. Unfortunately, it is stretches like these that invite skepticism to the movement.
It is a great sign that the College Republicans seem to take the matter of sexual assault so seriously. As they said in their statement, it is “never acceptable.” One can only hope that someday President Donald Trump of the same party feels the same way and can lead the country in the right direction. This feels like the sort of fake outrage that those on the right typically disdain, but if Republicans lead the charge against sexual assault, everyone should follow their lead. No doubt, the College Republicans deserve credit for being vocal on campus. Lord knows that right-leaning advocacy is often unwelcome in universities filled with lefty professors and social justice warriors. This was made very clear by the backlash the group received.
As expected, a slew of courageous keyboard warriors began piling on the College Republicans in the comment section, only turning the discussion more venomous and less constructive. Whether people disagree with the College Republicans’ post is beside the point. Nonetheless, they have the right to denounce or support any candidate they choose and share their beliefs. It was stupid, but stupid and slanderous are different.
We at The Oswegonian wish more people would come share their opinions in the paper every week, rather than Facebook. The SUNY Oswego College Republicans have since posted a Facebook video response following the backlash and stuck to their guns.
Politics is a messy business. I assume all candidates knew that when they decided to become public figures as SA representatives and even more so as presidential candidates. It is encouraging to see an open dialogue surrounding this election, but let’s continue that without sleazy sexual assault claims or Facebook wars.
Graphic: Joseph Lioto | The Oswegonian
