Abhi Desai

4 weeks ago | stanfordreview.org | Julia Steinberg |Abhi Desai

Stanford has changed dramatically since my freshman fall. Then, back in 2021, students donned masks to go to class (and the dining halls). Students, recovering from lockdowns, were re-integrating into and rebuilding social life on campus. Covid restrictions forced the Review to hold its meetings outdoors. With the resumption of “normal life” came renewed social pressures—and the desire to fit into the new social order. Self-censorship reigned supreme.

2 months ago | stanfordreview.org | Julia Steinberg |Abhi Desai

After this fall’s historic red wave, I expected to see a reaction similar to the 2016 presidential election. I was expecting mass protests, mass absentia from classes, sit-ins, and lively political debate on campus. That did not happen. What followed seemed to me to be utter resignation and capitulation. Though my 10:30am class on Wednesday, November 6 counted more than a few absences, the political mood on campus was, and continues to be, defeat, not aggravation.