It is not just a building. It is not a house for books. It is not just a place where some people have class sometimes. It is a sacred space, dedicated to knowledge and the pursuit of it, a space where many of us create our best work, our best selves. The Library, with all its nooks and crannies, all secluded spaces, and undiscovered potential, may be the only place on campus where we can go to find out, through uninterrupted work, who it is we want to be once we leave it. 

I was sitting in a circle with 11 other student volunteers in the walk-in closet of an Airbnb somewhere in South Philly. We had just listened to the Sunrise Movement staff discuss strategies for post-election action. After hearing the anticipated risks of every outcome, a lengthy pause seemed to reverberate around the room, someone’s shallow breaths echoing in the small space. The discussion leader led a grounding exercise.

Former President Donald Trump, clad with a kitchen apron, served french fries out of the McDonald’s drive-thru window in Philadelphia on Oct. 20. A hilarious portrayal of the billionaire-businessman, taking this new ‘job’ signifies more than an edifying campaign photo op. 

Combating the central campaign focus of Vice President Kamala Harris and simultaneously digging at Kamala Harris’s past employment, the Trump campaign is working to broaden their horizons and make his exorbitantly wealthy background far more palatable to the American middle class.