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Stanford Politics is an award-winning, non-partisan student newsmagazine. We're a relatively new publication, but we pride ourselves on the quality and professionalism of our content as well as the seriousness with which we take the practice of journalism.
We regularly publish news and opinion on our website, we have a bi-weekly podcast, and we print a magazine with features every quarter. We're called Stanford Politics, but we exclusively cover "politics" in the broadest sense of the term — really, anything that matters to people, whether that be on campus, locally, nationally, or internationally. We've created this weekly newsletter to keep you up-to-date with our best reporting and commentary as well as the most important stories by or about other Stanford affiliates.
So without further ado, please enjoy this week's Monday Memo.
Kavanaugh Controversy
Photo Credit: Ellie Utter
Recent weeks have been politically intense both on and off campus. Following Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court despite multiple sexual assault accusations, student groups and other Stanford organizations chose to respond in a variety of different ways. The Black Community Services Center held an Intellectual Round Table on Friday, Oct. 12 to discuss the confirmation, the national response to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony, and the “culture of sexual assault on campus and in… broader communities.” The Womxn’s Coalition put up a “We believe survivors” wall on which students were encouraged to share messages in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault. A letter of support for Dr. Ford was forwarded to and signed by many students, and SARA will be holding a processing circle on Oct. 19.
On the other end of the political spectrum, Stanford College Republicans held a “Change My Mind” event in White Plaza where they proclaimed “Kavanaugh is innocent until proven guilty.” Reactions to the Republicans included an altercation and the subsequent filing of a police report.
Alleged Physical Assault
At around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, SCR President John Rice-Cameron ’20 called the police, alleging that Melinda Hernandez ’21 physically assaulted him at the aforementioned tabling event.
According to the Daily:
Hernandez and multiple other witnesses denied these allegations, claiming that she touched him without force… [She] claims she merely touched Rice-Cameron on the chest after he refused to stop video recording her without her consent.
Both parties later responded to the incident on social media. SCR’s Facebook page described the altercation as “the violent and totalitarian behavior of the unhinged Stanford left.” Hernandez, on the other hand, wrote in a previously-public Facebook post quoted by the Daily that SCR’s reaction was “clearly an exertion of power and privilege.”
“Those who know my character, from a distance or up close, know my fight in social justice lies in peace,” she said.
Stanford students across the political spectrum similarly took to social media to discuss and debate the incident, particularly in the campus meme group “Stanford Memes for Edgy Trees.” Many noted irony in this excerpt from Rice-Cameron’s statement to the Daily, especially in light of the Kavanaugh allegations:
“Nobody should be assaulted on campus, under any circumstances.”
This heated moment in campus politics, fueled by what’s going on in Washington, quickly made its way beyond the Stanford bubble. In fact, the Daily’s story has been picked up by various national news outlets, ranging from right-leaning publications like Fox News, the Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller, and Breitbart to more moderate/left-leaning ones like the Washington Post and the Mercury News.
Who is JRC anyway?
Photo Credit: Hanan Yajoor / Stanford Politics
New to Stanford? Out of the loop last spring? Not to worry -- we at Stanford Politics actually profiled Rice-Cameron in the cover story for our most recent print magazine this past May. To summarize: he’s the President of SCR and self-proclaimed “face of conservatism on campus.” He also happens to be Susan Rice’s son. Read the full story here.
And In Case You Missed It…
Causality: A Hidden Casualty of the Gun Debate (Ruru Hoong / Stanford Politics)
‘Abolish Prisons’ Is the New ‘Abolish ICE’ (Former SP EIC Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna / Politico Magazine)
Laugh at the U.N., Not With It (Former SP senior editor Elliot Kaufman / Wall Street Journal)
Bail Reform Bill Considered By California Legislature (Marissa Gerchick, Fiona Kelliher and current SP staff writer Emily Lemmerman / SFGate)
California Senatorial Candidate Kevin de León Talks Immigration, Health Care, and Standing Up to Trump (Former SP staff writer Jack Herrera / Pacific Standard)
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