STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY

By Jonathan Ring (President, SSCR) Fall 2002

Four years ago, coming to Salem State College, I had no idea about the wonders I would encounter or the people I would meet. Many come to Salem to understand its rich history as a place of commerce, and especially its political history dating back before the founding of our great nation. Indeed, this is where people go when they want to see the American city that experienced great witch hysteria in 1692 and where today’s national guard was first established in 1652. Others have come to Salem to live and learn from all individuals, following a path laid before them years, some times centuries, prior. I commute from Rockport to Salem, by train, every day, and I began attending Salem State College for the education and short distance. I continue to attend this fine institution because there are many great professors and students here, no matter the political persuasion, and because this is an institution rich in history and politics. In 1854 it was chartered as Salem Normal School, one of the first teaching schools in America, and was thus renamed Salem Teachers College in 1932. And, in 1959, it became Salem State College. Salem State has graduated many distinguished representatives in our country, including Brian P. Lees (R), Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader, and John Tierney (D), 6th Congressional District U.S. Representative. Many distinguished guests, including Barbara Bush (R), former First Lady of the United States, Collin Powell (R), current Secretary of State, and Bill Clinton (D), former President of United States, have spoken at Salem State College. And many Republican, Democrat, Green Party, and Libertarian, activists, politicians and candidates have visited our campus for the student vote! However, as of this writing the Republican Party is the only political party organized at Salem State College. We are definitely a hub of political activity.

Another reason I continue my attendance here as a political science student is because of my fellow students at the college and in the Republican Party. It was a Republican (and fellow political science student), by the name of Ditmar Jaenisch, who became my best friend these past four years and helped me in every endeavor I engaged in from my entrance in to Student Government, my coordination of the SSC Science Fiction & Fantasy Association, political science, and my search for God. Hailing from the state of Utah, and graduating before me, he now heads off to the graduate school of Penn State University, where he will no doubt touch many more lives as he did here at Salem State College.

Another friend of mine, who has helped me out a great deal and got me started in the Republican Party, including the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans and the Salem State College Republicans, is Robert Willington, the immediate past president of the SSCR. Rob and I both attended and graduated from Rockport High School (he graduated a year earlier than I did) and soon found each other here at Salem State. Quite by coincidence we both became political science majors. And though I thought I was liberal (and even voted liberal a few times), I found that I had more in common with him than any liberal I’ve ever met – thus realizing my rightful place in the conservative movement and the Republican Party. Rob is still very active in the party and Massachusetts Government, and, as a continuing member, links us to the political world of Massachusetts.

Though there are many more Republican students and professors who have been great friends, there just as many non Republican and non conservative students, professors and staff, who have shown great kindness and friendship toward me and others. Many of my fellow Americans, and citizens from other parts of the world, I thank every day, whether they know or not, because it is they that make coming to Salem State worth the effort and money. If I’ve learned any thing at all, attending this college, it is the meaning of the term “commonwealth.” Our state and our nation, as exemplified by Salem State College, truly is a commonwealth of history, knowledge, American freedom and democracy, because of the people who live, work, and visit here. That is why this place has so much wonder!