The truth is, I am a Republican.

I voted to re-elect President George W. Bush in 2004. I believe that Hillary Clinton shouldn’t be allowed back into the Oval Office, and I believe that Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of our time. I have been a member of the RPI College Republicans since August 2004 and I attend their meetings every Wednesday night. I am proud of this and I want to tell you why.

For starters, I believe that freedom is the ultimate equivocator. When the rights of individuals to speak, assemble, engage in commerce, and compete freely is preserved, humans are at their best. These freedoms allow us to transcend barriers of geography, culture, race, and ideology which we otherwise might be inclined to address with government. In fact, I don’t look at “the government” as a sentient being. “Government” is what happens when we all come together and give up a certain amount of our money and independence for important things that we otherwise couldn’t do on our own, like building roads, maintaining our national defense, or regulating trade. Government should be reserved for the important stuff.

I am also a Republican because I believe many of the things that do fall within the scope of government should be done at the state level rather than the federal level. As a scientist, I look at empowering the states as allowing things to be done in 50 laboratories instead of one. If people in Massachusetts want to have their state government take over healthcare, or if the people in South Carolina want their government to issue hand guns to every household, more power to them. If they’re right, proponents for such initiatives in the other 49 states will be able to point to a success story. If they’re wrong, it will dissuade people in other states from following a bad idea. Free to choose, people will choose the right thing.

I disagree with the inclination amongst Democrats to solve problems by nationalizing them and/or throwing money at them. This isn’t to say that Republicans ignore these issues; for example, if we are to remain competitive in the global marketplace, our educational system needs to catch up. But this is not going to happen by having the federal government take over. Likewise, there are many problems that exist in the country’s healthcare system, but the solution is not to socialize medicine. On the other hand, I don’t extend blanket infallibility to everyone with an R after their name. The Republicans lost Congress in 2006 for spending too much money and abandoning their commitment to limiting the role and scope of government, and they deserved to; there are plenty of Republicans I wouldn’t vote for.

Back here at RPI, there’s absolutely no shame in being a Republican. There’s nothing wrong with believing that we should lower taxes and that America shouldn’t apologize for its strength—you most certainly aren’t alone. In fact, many of your professors on campus are “closet Republicans” who fear that they’ll experience some kind of backlash from the liberals who roam the campus. Perhaps some of them should come to College Republicans, too.

Finally, let me lay the important fact of this column on the table: my personal politics have precisely no bearing on my role as your Grand Marshal. Anyone who has participated in student government since I took over can attest to the fact that I have enforced my belief that national politics have absolutely no place in what we’re doing to make RPI a better place. I couldn’t tell you the political leanings of most members of the Student Senate, simply because I haven’t asked them. Past Grand Marshals have been Republican, Democrat, and everything in between. It doesn’t matter. The problems that we face as an Institute transcend anything that may matter in the voting booth.

Before I close, I would also like to take some time to recognize the hard work and extensive planning that went into the NSBE/SHPE Career Fair two weekends ago. To everyone who helped out in any way—thank you! It was a great success and I hope many of you had the opportunity to attend and maybe even find a job.