It is November 5th, 2024, the night of the presidential election. Calls from relatives and anxious looks exchanged with friends fill the evening. The Stockdale Community Center TV lights up red over and over with each new state Donald Trump wins. The next day, life at Webb seems to go on as normal, albeit with a somewhat more somber atmosphere. Surprisingly, it seems like there is a prevalent lack of reaction by the Webb community.  

“When I got to school and saw everyone eating their breakfast, acting like everything was normal, it felt like the world was ending,” Saraya Chigoji (‘27) said. “It felt like Webb was in a larger bubble, and seeing everyone not looking disturbed at all, I was like ‘What’s with the lack of reaction?’” 

So why does it not matter? While it could be true that some students simply do not think the election results affect them, which could arguably be a sign of the immense privilege students at Webb possess, the more probable explanation is that a large percentage of the Webb population is ignorant to what is at stake and what Donald Trump plans to enact in office. 

Part of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was an ambitious political agenda if he were elected. The unfortunate fact is that the policies that Donald Trump plans to put in place will affect everyone, extending even to Webb students. One of these plans is to evoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in hopes of deporting over eleven million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Trump has stated that he will make sure that benefits funded by the federal government will be available exclusively to American Citizens. 

Trump plans to enforce this plan in part by restoring Title 42, a restriction that denies asylum seekers access into the United States, and by getting rid of the CBP One App, a program that assists potential immigrants during the naturalization process. He also preaches an anti-transgender rhetoric and has stated that he wants to ban gender-affirming care in the United States. These specific policies will affect Webb students directly, especially those who have or have family that have immigrated to the United States, by making life for immigrants harder and placing more restrictions on who can use certain resources. Also, for those that identify as LBGTQ+ by limiting the resources available for those who identify as transgender. 

“When I think of the last Trump presidency, I think about how polarizing it was,” said Stephanie Graefe, humanities department faculty. “What I’m hoping will happen this time around is that we’ll have a do over in ways in which we can talk to other people [who] we may not really understand or disagree with and maybe find some common ground.” 

A second Trump presidency will have major consequences for everyone in the United States, including the Webb community, whether they are an American citizen or not and the greater Webb population’s failure to react to the election results leads to division between those who acknowledge that this will affect their life and those who do not. This type of division fuels the polarization seen during the first Trump presidency, so Webb students, with all the resources present around them, should take the time to learn and understand why the election results should matter to them and the people around them. This can and will prevent division and make the Webb community stronger and more united, which is something that the community requires to combat a second Trump presidency in the next four years.