The College needs a revolution of love. Love, while often thought of as a noun, is best used as a verb. The act of loving on campus entails fostering a culture of care, wherein we see and value all members of the community regardless of our respective backgrounds or roles within the College. While these intentions may seem natural, recent interactions at the College have demonstrated that we, as students, fail to fulfill this mission in our daily lives.
Last semester was a difficult time for me, and it seemed like I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The darkness of those days seemed to swallow everyone whole, leaving people feeling isolated and devoid of love. Students rushed from one class to the next, stressing about an upcoming exam or problem set. We wouldn’t make eye contact with each other, let alone take a moment to pause and interact in meaningful ways. As I engaged with student activism on campus, I saw how members of the College refused to sit and listen to one another. We forgot our shared humanity by shutting down meaningful conversations and ignoring our emotions and struggles. This inaction contributed to a culture of apathy on campus. I felt isolated and alone in the moments where I needed community the most.
I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by a group of close friends who saw me struggle and chose to uplift me. But what about those who don’t have the same support system? We cannot exclusively rely on small pockets of support; our entire campus must commit to creating a culture of love and care for one another.
Our current reality is defined by division, polarization, and widespread injustice. It is more important than ever to cultivate spaces of empathy and compassion. Apathy is the root of inaction. When we fail to care, we fail to act, and when we stop caring, we lose the capacity to love — leading us down a path of indifference and hate. We become disconnected from one another and the very humanity that unites us. The ability to see and value others, especially those with different backgrounds than us, is an act of resistance and a proclamation of love.
It is time for those at the College to embrace love. We must embody the care we wish to see in our interactions with others. The way we engage with one another has the ability to transform us both individually and as a campus community. We can demonstrate compassion for one another in a variety of ways: making eye contact and smiling at a stranger in passing, complimenting someone’s sweater, or asking an acquaintance to have dinner with you. Small gestures like these foster connection while creating a culture of care that ripples throughout the College.
But these gestures of kindness cannot be limited to other students. We must extend love to those who care so deeply for the well-being of our community: Dining Services, custodians, and all of the individuals whose contributions often go unnoticed. It is my experience that students of the College often come from privileged backgrounds and overlook the hard work that these community members provide. I have interacted with custodians and other staff members who have been surprised that I stopped to ask them about their day or remembered details from a conversation we had previously. Their reactions suggest that most students often overlook their presence, reducing them to the labor they provide rather than recognizing them as essential members of our community. These individuals, who contribute so much to our campus, deserve our love, care, and appreciation too.
Choosing love as the foundation of our community will help us acknowledge our interconnectedness, despite our differences. We need to cultivate a culture of care where every community member feels valued and seen. When we openly display love, we break down barriers of isolation and indifference and move towards a campus culture that thrives on compassion and care.
Mariel Baez ’26 is a biology major and neuroscience and Latina/o studies concentrator from Springfield, Mass.
