OPINION: A strobe at best

The Beacon strives to “seek the truth and report It.” So let’s take a moment to review the standards to which The Beacon holds itself, as prescribed by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The Society of Professional Journalists has a code of ethics to which they hold the entire profession. These standards include:

• Seek the Truth & Report It
• Minimize Harm
• Act Independently
• Be Accountable & Transparent

However, it would not be fair to place blame for this silence solely on The Beacon. I believe what’s happening with this publication is a microcosm of a bigger issue at play. 

Universities across the nation are preemptively complying with this regime’s executive orders out of fear or losing their government funding. Colleges across the country are being intimidated and bullied into silence, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that explains The Beacon’s fear in taking a vocal stance and writing about the impacts of this regime on the University of Portland community as well.

Let’s address this issue directly: The University of Portland is a Catholic Institution that answers to a higher power than President Donald Trump and this violent administration. The University of Portland has a moral obligation to answer to God and to abide by Catholic Social Teaching as a leader in the face of injustice and persecution.  So let us take a moment to review Catholic Social Teaching as a community:

The Core Principles of Catholic Social Teaching are:

• Dignity of the Human Person:
Every human being, from conception to natural death, possesses inherent dignity and worth, created in the image and likeness of God.

• Call to Family, Community, and Participation:
Humans are social beings, called to live in community and participate in society, respecting the rights and responsibilities of all.

• Rights and Responsibilities:
Every person has fundamental rights, including the right to life, freedom, and property, along with corresponding responsibilities to contribute to society.
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable:
The needs of the poor and vulnerable should be given priority, reflecting the preferential love of God for those who are most in need.

• Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers:
Work is a fundamental aspect of human dignity, and workers have the right to fair wages, safe working conditions, and the opportunity to organize.

• Solidarity:
We are all interconnected and responsible for one another, working together to build a just and peaceful world.

• Care for God's Creation:
We are called to be stewards of God's creation, protecting the environment and ensuring its sustainability for future generations. 


Now is the time for strength of conviction, because in the face of injustice, silence only emboldens the oppressor. If there is administrative and student body fear over this regime withholding university funding or disappearing students for exercising their First Amendment rights, that is where the Catholic Community, university alumni and various other supporters have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference. 

We need visible leadership from the community and university to support the University administration in doing the right thing. The money will return to the university — but if we stay silent, preemptively comply and do nothing — our rights will not. I implore the entire University of Portland community to have moral courage right now.  Just because it is not happening to you does not mean you should not care - that is a privilege that marginalized communities do not have.

The Trump administration has scrubbed the existence of transgender people from all government websites and from Stonewall National Monument, and has purged countless other words and phrases in acts that are being likened to “digital book burnings.” “Digital book burnings" are the removal or alteration of digital content by censorship or other means, such as deleting the works in their entirety, modifying them to suit certain ideological agendas, or restricting access to them. The concept is linked to censorship in the digital age, as it mirrors the historical practice of burning physical books to suppress ideas.

The Nazis burned gender & sexuality studies literature during Kristallnacht. Sound familiar? Because it is: We have already seen Kristallnacht happen, but in the digital age. We have seen these very actions from the current administration.

“More than a hundred and ten thousand government pages have gone dark in a purge that one scientist likened to a ‘digital book burning,’ and which has proved as frightening in its imprecision as in its malice,” Julian Lucas said in The New Yorker. 

According to The Pink Triangle Legacies Project, an organization devoted to remembering queer and trans victims of the Nazi regime, “Throughout their campaign, and especially after they gained power, Nazi politicians used homophobic rhetoric to unite the different factions of the right wing in an effort to build a coalition among conservative, religious voters. ” These are more than just historical parallels. Thus far, the actions we’ve seen from this administration are a literal carbon copy of what’s been done before, just now in the era of more advanced technology.

So if you have ever wondered, what would I have done during the rise of Hitler and the Nazi regime or in the timeline leading up to and after the Kristallnacht book burnings? The answer is - you’re doing it now. 

"First They Came" by Pastor Martin Niemöller is a powerful statement about the dangers of apathy and the importance of speaking out against injustice, even when it doesn't directly affect you. Because once the net is cast, and one marginalized group is targeted, the net only gets wider. It catches more and more of us, until there’s no one left to speak for you.

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

Students, while you have the least to risk right now with no job, and no family to feed, you also have the most to lose — your constitutional rights, your way of life, a functional democracy. Why are you not in the streets screaming at the top of your lungs? It is time to wake up and do something.

Your voice matters. Put your phones down, get outside, join protests and be visible. Create good trouble. Our democracy depends on all of you getting offline and connecting with one another in the midst of a very scary reality. Choose to have moral courage in the face of it. When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.

The only students with any legitimate reason to be sitting down are those who are the most at risk of being targeted by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Make those determinations wisely and protect yourself and your families first. But if you are not in a marginalized demographic, you have no excuse and you need to use your privilege to save those you don’t know, now.

Empathy is not a weakness of society, no matter who tries to convince you otherwise. It’s a beautiful, powerful strength and it will help us endure and overcome. I pray you live up to the moral courage of those you worship. And if you’re not mad about what’s happening right now in our government, you either have no empathy or you’re not paying attention. And, if you are paying attention, and you are angry, now is the time to mobilize and act.

Prominent activist Catholic leaders have been known to take a stance in the face of morally imperative social issues. For example, Dorothy Day, a widely regarded great Catholic leader of the 20th century, advocated and practiced a Catholic socioeconomic teaching known as distributism, “an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated.” Day also protested the Vietnam War and was arrested in 1973 for demonstrating in support of United Farm Workers.

Today, we are seeing devout Catholic individuals take a stand and perform acts of civil disobedience to lead the way forward through this darkness. Marcy Rheintgen, a devout Catholic college student, was arrested in the Florida State Capitol Building for using the restroom that aligns with her gender presentation and identity. Before her arrest, she even wanted to take a moment to pray the rosary, but was never given the chance to do so. I have no doubts that Marcy’s brave act of civil disobedience will make history.

So my final message to the entire UP community is to find inspiration in the stories of Marcy and Dorothy. Be brave, live your values and be on the right side of history.

And, until The Beacon can also live up to the ethical standards of the SPJ and show moral courage as an independent campus newspaper, they should consider a rebrand, as they are a strobe at best.

Editor's note: The Beacon has published several pieces about the Trump administration's executive orders and other actions.

Amanda Stern is a Jewish United States Air Force Veteran, graduate student in the Pamplin School of Business and was a Beacon photographer last semester. She can be reached at sterna27@up.edu.

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