Dear Golden Flashes,
Tomorrow we celebrate our democracy as we vote, and as we await the election results. I remember well the first time I voted, which was in a state and local election in 1978, in a polling station located in the basement of a church in Winfield, Kansas. I was too young by three weeks to vote in the 1976 presidential election, but have voted in every presidential election since then, and just thinking about each of those elections conjures up memories, emotions, disputes, elation and disappointment spread over the past 46 years.
. If you voted early: thank you.
Since my first vote, social media and 24/7 news coverage have changed the world. Now it is nearly impossible to avoid campaign advertisements and reporting. I don’t know about you, but in recent years I have felt a growing tension from the onslaught of attack ads, and certainly my feelings of anxiousness have increased.
One source of comfort for me is knowing that Flashes Take Care of Flashes. Regardless of your political beliefs and voting preferences, all of us belong to the same community … to one community … a place where our embrace of kindness and respect supports our bedrock defense of free speech.
If you are feeling out of sorts after the election, or if you are curious about what others are thinking, I encourage you to attend “Post-Election Reflections: Navigating Emotions and Wellness in the Community,” at 4 p.m. on Nov. 7 in room 313 of the Kent Student Center. The discussion, led by Associate Lecturer Jacquelyn Bleak of the School of Peace and Conflict Studies, is part of our .
Also, please know that Counseling and Psychological Services has put together an election toolkit to help us address the emotions of the moment. .
Let’s recommit to taking care of each other. We are one community defined by both our differences and by our embrace of each other. As always, I know you will join me in treating others as they wish to be treated, and in treating others as you wish to be treated.
And then, sometime in the future, when you are looking back on your history of voting in presidential elections, you will remember how we came together as a community regardless of the results.
This is who we are … it’s the way.
Sincerely,
Todd Diacon
President