Category Archives: Opinion

The DSA Has Their Foot in the Door. Can They Take 2028?

Leave a reply

By Madelynn Martinez

For most of American history, change was gradual, occurring over generations.

Now there’s new kids on the block, and they’re looking to progress (pun intended) at a break-neck pace. 

The name alone would have made Ronald Reagan quiver: the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA is among the oldest progressive organizations in the United States. Presently, it has two de facto leaders: Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Mamdani’s success in the New York City mayoral election and AOC’s near-decade long tenure in Congress have generated mass speculation that the DSA may thrust its party members into the 2028 election. Mamdani is not eligible to run for president, but AOC is, and she has begun to hint at a potential run.

However, AOC’s track record is concerning at best. The Congresswoman from New York began her tenure in the House with a bang, attempting to pass the ambitious Green New Deal. At the time, AOC was the ideal progressive candidate, until her bill was shot down in the Senate in a landslide defeat of 0-57. 

As time went on, she shifted to the center. In recent years, AOC has pushed for “building bridges” and working within the current political climate; in 2023, she voted in lock-step with the centrist Democratic President Joe Biden 94 percent of the time. 

If AOC 1.0 was an expansive wind farm, AOC 2.0 is a natural gas plant with a pride flag painted over. 

When the Green New Deal failed, it became clear to AOC that establishment Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer would not support her progressive policies, thus leaving her socialist agenda dead in the water. 

With the death of her socialist policies and capitulation to the status quo, AOC’s presidential nomination would fail to stick out in comparison to her establishment counterparts. If she were to become president, her term could be akin to those of Presidents Biden and Obama before her.

This leaves the DSA in a predicament: Run a bridge candidate and lose out on key policy goals, or don’t run at all and let the status quo continue.

Miss the “Miss”: Patriarchy in Linguistics

Leave a reply

By Sacdiya Rashid

In my 17 years of living, one especially important lesson I’ve learned is that patriarchy is inherently entwined in how we speak. 

My first encounter with patriarchal ideas began on the first day of fourth grade. It’s an understatement to say I walked in ecstatic. Orientation has always been my favorite day. 

English is my second language; Somali was my first. So when chatter in the class slowly settled down, and my teacher introduced herself as Miss, I was confused. Miss? I thought it was Mrs.? Or Ms.? 

To answer both your question and mine, the difference between the three is marital status. Mrs. is a married woman; Ms. is generally an unmarried woman. Well, that’s the end. Thanks for reading… is what I would say if the distinction didn’t linger in my nine-year-old brain, creating a fixation none of my peers shared.

Lo and behold, the origins of this terminology derive from historical language. According to the University of Cambridge, “‘Mistress’ is the root word of both of the abbreviations ‘Mrs.’ and ‘Miss,’ just as ‘Mr.’ is an abbreviation of ‘Master.’”

Even before understanding the historical significance behind the terminology, I always wondered why women were identified based on their relationship status while men weren’t. Only women’s titles emphasize their connections to men rather than their honorific and name, which takes away the purpose.

Few people deny that patriarchal ideas exist in our language, but many critics argue that it’s too late for anyone to do anything about it. A common claim among many English speakers essentially boils down to “Okay, now what?” My answer is that it’s never too late to inspire change. The first step is clear: raising awareness.

If I hadn’t learned about the difference between honorifics in men and women on that day in fourth grade, I wouldn’t have even acknowledged the impact linguistics play in our lives. Awareness can be the difference between being negligent and making a difference. You can make an impact, one word at a time. It takes a single candle to light thousands. Be that candle.

ICE: Enemy of the People

Leave a reply

By Jorge Rodriguez

There are many qualities that make up the ideal President: empathetic, knowledgeable and considerate of everyone in the country.

None of these qualities are ones that our current President, Donald Trump, embodies. He is routinely dishonest and consistently demeans and marginalizes communities of color, specifically immigrants. This is most evident in his immigration policies and the deployment of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Since returning to the Oval Office, Trump has issued more than 500 immigration-policy related actions. In his second term, ICE arrests have more than quadrupled, reaching roughly 1,200 a day, according to the Migration Policy Institute. 

It doesn’t just stop at arrests. Across the nation, cases of ICE abuse have surged. According to the National Immigration Project, at least 23 people have died in ICE custody this year alone.

In January, 42-year-old Honduran immigrant Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres died under ICE supervision in Texas. Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old resident of Minneapolis, was fatally shot by ICE officers the same month. Despite these atrocities, we see that ICE officers rarely face consequences for their actions. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in its most recent form, was established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The agency was created to boost national security and enhance border enforcement after the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, and to assist in the removal of unauthorized people living in the United States.

In its first 20 years of activity, ICE served four presidents and kept a relatively low profile. Everything changed when Trump came back to office. ICE was no longer seen as an agency that protects us against terrorists. It became the parasite that kills us.

Raids became more frequent, detention centers have expanded and agents are now being  directed to prioritize arrests in communities with high immigrant populations.

Americans should be asking themselves: What happens when the protector becomes the enemy?

It’s Time for an Immigration Bill

Leave a reply

By Daniela Rosales 

The Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas has 65,000 seats. That’s almost enough space for the 65,765 individuals reported to be held in United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers as of July 2026. Almost, but not enough. 

The numbers keep growing, but Congress hasn’t passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill since 1986. The DIGNITY Act of 2025 (H.R. 4393) could change this. Introduced by United States Representatives Maria Elvira Salaazar (R-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX), the bill would provide undocumented immigrants with dignity in the form of long-term legal status, protection from deportation and the ability to work and travel outside the U.S. It must be passed. 

In the 40 years since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was signed into law, numerous election campaigns have promised the American people a solution. In an interview with PBS news, former President Joe Biden stated: “Within 100 days, I’m going to send to the United States Congress a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people.” Likewise, former President Barack Obama said during his tenure that he was “confident” that immigration reform would pass.  

These promises have proved empty, leaving communities torn apart and America’s immigrants living in fear for their future in the country they call home. With bipartisan Congressional support from 19 Republicans and 20 Democrats, the DIGNITY Act offers a chance to ease that fear. It is clear that this is an issue that elected officials are willing to work across the aisle for.

Some say that the bill would be ineffective because it doesn’t tackle citizenship, but that doesn’t mean that the compromise it offers can’t move things in the right direction. The bill would allow undocumented Americans to stop hiding in fear and live their lives. It would pay respect to a group of people who have contributed trillions of dollars in tax revenue to the U.S. economy and have taken far less in welfare. 

Immigrants are the backbone of the United States of America. By passing legislation like the DIGNITY Act, we can actually make America great.

Portfolio-Based Assessments Outscore the SAT

Leave a reply

By Kaitlyn Hills

What’s the newest extracurricular taking up teenagers’ time? Studying for the SAT. As college admissions offices reinstitute testing requirements, the controversy over whether a single score is an accurate assessment of a student’s intelligence continues. 

One factor that calls into question the SAT’s quality as an evaluatory metric is the disparity in performance between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds. According to the Harvard Gazette, only 25 percent of students from the lowest-earning 20 percent of families take the SAT. Among those students, just 2.5 percent score a 1300 or higher. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that test takers from families in the top 20 percent of earners were seven times more likely as students in the bottom quintile to score a 1300 or above.

A reason for the underperformance of students from lower-income backgrounds is a lack of access to resources. According to CollegeBoard, high-performing SAT scores strongly correlate with access to resources. Lower-income students often struggle to find resources to aid in test prep, whether in the form of classes, paid tutors or prep books. 

Given these barriers, schools need to adopt an alternative method for measuring students’ college readiness. Portfolio-based assessments, in which a student’s knowledge is evaluated based on samples of work collected over time, offer exactly that. 

This idea is not abstract. The rapid implementation of test-optional college admissions policies during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that an application process without standardized testing is possible. According to a Common App report, the adoption of such a policy has increased the number of applications from first-generation students and underserved communities by over 20 percent. 

Portfolio-based assessments demonstrate students’ critical thinking skills and holistic academic progress in a way that standardized test scores cannot. If colleges and universities are willing to work alongside legislators at the national level, they can implement comprehensive instructions and guidelines to standardize the process. 

Replacing standardized testing with portfolio-based assessments prioritizes underserved communities. It also gives each individual applicant a unique chance to express themselves in their college applications, rather than let a single number stand in for the story of their life.

Make Your Own Mamdani

Leave a reply

By Alona Sanchez

When my sociology teacher included an article about Zohran Mamdani in a news rundown at the start of class, it raised questions. Why should I, a woman from a small town in Ohio, care about the politics of New York City? 

When it comes to Mamdani, there’s plenty to talk about. 

Mamdani’s campaign promises, among them a free bus system, free childcare and rent freezes, have put him at the forefront of many Americans’ minds. Gen Z voters have been especially taken with the young mayor. He is known for his active social media presence, which he regularly uses to interface with young people in New York City and beyond. 

It is a known fact that voter turnout for local elections is lower than voter turnout for federal elections in the United States. According to a study by the University of Chicago, voter turnout across all ages in local elections averages around 20 percent. In contrast, the estimated youth turnout for the New York City mayoral race was as high as 28 percent. 

Those who say that Mamdani is one-of-a-kind or that he can only exist in New York City are ignoring the role of higher voter turnout in Mamdani’s win. When elections aren’t well attended, voters let people who do not share their priorities make decisions for them. The more voters turn out in a local election, the more power they have to elect exciting candidates who share their values and concerns. 

The New York City mayoral election showed that engaging youth voters in local elections is possible, but young people elsewhere in the country can’t just wait around longing for a mayor like Mamdani to appear. Gen Zers should be turning their attention not to Mamdani, but to their own local government. If they want change, they need to head to the polls and vote.

Mamdani may not be your mayor, but that doesn’t mean he should be forgotten or ignored. Vote for the people you want to see in office. Make a Mamdani of your own. 

Story of the Year

Leave a reply

“I gotta be honest, I thought you were A.I. until we met in person.”

“Some of the people I’m friends with right now, I never talked to on Zoom.”

After three weeks of virtual workshops, lectures, and discussion groups — notwithstanding the constant disconnection, calls during work and frantic texts for workshop notes in the “PSJP ‘26” Instagram group chat — all 38 scholars of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP) came to campus ready to write in tandem. From placing bets on how tall we were going to be in person, to teaching each other about our cultures, to connecting through various TikTok dances and karaoke performances (much to the grievance of our hard-working counselors), we all walked away with one message in our hearts: PSJP ‘26 forever.

The program took a turn when we scholars sought to confuse our counselors as much as possible with either the yearly influx of new slang or bringing back old trends. Timed hand symbols were also part of this confusion. Some signs would signify “throwing away someone’s opinion,” others would show that a scholar “captured a moment in their heart.” This wasn’t ASL, it was PSJP-SL. You could “silence” your laugh, and cue your friends to “lock in” and focus, or you could lock in quickly with a hand swish, changing from a smile to a serious face seamlessly. Dance circles formed whenever they were possible, TikToks were filmed in the lounge, courtyard and even on a street while waiting to get into the Sports Illustrated Stadium, much to our counselors’ perplexity. There was hardly a minute where us student journalists weren’t learning new things, and that experience remained akin to that of the counselors. Like the deadline-driven nature of our program, we conjured up inside jokes and traditions at an alarmingly rapid speed — a symptom of putting 38 hyper, journalism-brained students together to experience PSJP. As conversations kept flowing, we learned about each other’s cultures and how diverse we truly were. Without this program, we might not have learned those things and might not have even met one another and made the bonds that we did.

We learned to make sure no one walked or ate alone, from mischievously rushing to get strawberry shortcake ice cream for dessert all the way to walking in Robertson Hall, where we fulfilled our Red vs. Blue team rivalries. Even after beating each other (brutally) in a debate, pens burning with academic fire, we were friends. This is the essence of PSJP and the meeting of kindred spirits. Like-minded intellectuals offering deep musings one moment, and “laughable listens” or reverberating belches the next.

Equipped with several digital cameras, the PSJP scholars braved and LARPed through the ten-day intensive. Despite the harrowing feeling of dropping our phones into Megan’s infamous phone bag before the early-morning trek to breakfast, our arms inCOURTESY OF CARNEGIA HILL ENTERTAINMENT tertwined with those of our suite-mates. Unplugged from our phones for entire days at times, we were still excited to make memories that will only be documented by the photos from our incredible photographers and put into the photocopier after hours of begging. Throughout the in-person program’s chockfull days of lecture, workshops, and tours, each of us grew only more obsessed with journalism — while also walking away with pocketfuls of free snackbar supplies from Bloomberg. We gained valuable insights from professional journalists and editors that patiently answered our never-ending questions, instilling skills in us that would take us far beyond the career of journalism.

Also, it’s apparent with the sheer effort and pure animosity bequeathed from each and every one of us constantly. Through the struggle, the intellect and the relationships we made, it all cemented the ideals of hard work and effort.

In essence, the pipeline, the needle being moved and taking it offline, all at the end of the day succumb to a single streamline, circling back and catalyzing the Princeton Summer Journalism Program into what it is today. In the not fact-checked words of one of our guest professors, “They playing checkers while we playing chess.”

And with that, it’s a wrap, PSJP’ 26, signing out.

Diversity Isn’t Just a Buzzword—It Changed How I See the World

Leave a reply

By Dominic T.

As I scanned my high school cafeteria, I, like every other freshman in America, anxiously wondered where I would fit in.

The difference was, when I looked at all my potential lunch companions, I didn’t just see students from countless religions, races, backgrounds, and economic statuses. I saw scholars, athletes, artists, musicians—completely unique individuals.

That experience, and many others like it, helped me realize something important: diversity isn’t just a feel-good checkbox. It’s essential to communities across the country.

The benefits of diversity aren’t just subjective—they’re measurable.

In a 2014 Princeton University study, researchers asked groups in Texas and Singapore to price stocks. They found that diverse groups were 58% more accurate than non-diverse groups. In other words, diversity improves how we solve problems, how we collaborate, and how we perform.

This applies to the workplace, too. Every culture has something valuable to bring to the table—economically, socially, and intellectually.

Diversity also saves lives. A study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that patients from non-white backgrounds often receive worse care from predominantly white medical centers. But when diversity among medical professionals increases, patient outcomes improve.

That’s because when people feel seen, heard, and understood—especially in essential settings like hospitals—they thrive.

I know this from experience. Out of 362 suburbs in Illinois, my hometown of Romeoville ranks number 31 in diversity. Growing up, I never saw my classmates from other cultures as “different”—it just felt normal.

As an agnostic person, I learned about religions like Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam directly from my peers. Their openness helped shape how I think, and helped me better understand the values people hold.

Diversity isn’t something you check off on a college application.
It’s a force that opens your mind, expands your empathy, and builds stronger communities.

The cultural richness of my hometown made me who I am. I believe everyone deserves the chance to grow up in an environment like that—because it doesn’t just change how you see the world.


It changes how you move through it.

The Stonewall Monument Is Falling—and Trump Pushed It

Leave a reply

By Norman S.

During the month of June, protest signs bounce up and down.
“Trans Rights Are Human Rights,” one of them reads.
Parades light up streets all across the United States.

Now flash forward five years: That same sign is blacklisted. Celebrating anything that strays from the “norm” is criminalized.

Sound scary? That’s the path we’re currently on.

The Stonewall National Monument—located at the site of a New York City bar—is dedicated to the uprising that sparked the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the 1960s. Before Donald Trump’s second term, the official government website for the site openly described this history using terms like “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” and “transgender.”

Today, “bisexual” and “transgender” have been removed.

The Republican Party has increasingly framed the LGBTQ+ community—especially trans people—as predators targeting children and women. This harmful narrative is being used to justify systemic rollbacks. And the quiet deletion of LGBTQ+ labels from government platforms is just the beginning.

There is precedent for this. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese xenophobia surged. President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with Executive Order 9066, creating military zones on the West Coast and forcibly relocating Japanese Americans to internment camps under inhumane conditions.

The parallels to today’s political moment are hard to ignore.

Trump and other conservative leaders regularly label LGBTQ+ identities as threats, using slurs and dehumanizing language—words like “mutilation,” “trap,” and “she-male.”

If this framing continues unchallenged, displacement or even criminalization may follow.

Removing terms like “transgender” and “bisexual” from government websites is not just erasure—it’s a warning.

If these dominoes fall, the gay and lesbian communities could be next.
And after that, all of our personal freedoms may be on the line.

Even MAGA Wants the Truth: Trump’s Broken Promise on the Epstein Files

Leave a reply

By Selah D.

Trump promised to release the Epstein files if elected—but now, he’s refusing to follow through.

Liberals and MAGA supporters seem to disagree on almost everything, but when it comes to the Epstein files, they’ve found rare common ground. While many Americans see wrongdoing and injustice in the Trump administration, it’s uncommon for Trump’s own right-wing base to feel the same.

That’s what makes this different. The Epstein files are one of the few issues causing noticeable disillusionment among his most loyal supporters.

But the Epstein files are just one of many examples where Trump and his administration have contradicted themselves or been caught in lies.

What’s revolutionary about this moment is that even his own party is upset. The backlash from the right may mark a turning point in how much trust President Trump still has—even within his base.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump was asked directly whether he would declassify the Epstein files. He responded:

“Yeah, yeah, I would.”

This wasn’t the only time he made the promise. He also brought it up on a podcast with Lex Fridman and during a radio show with Will Cain. On the latter, he said:

“It’d be interesting to find out what happened there.”

But two weeks ago, when asked by reporters about the Epstein case, Trump backtracked completely:

“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody.”

Why did he suddenly change his mind? Did he ever mean it in the first place—or was it just another campaign ploy to gain support?

These are the questions that explain why even his supporters are starting to lose trust.

Trump is a liar—and always has been.