Penn State’s College Progressives and Democrats ‘march on Washington,’ reflect on President Trump – The Daily Collegian Online

Katie Van Develde, senior-meteorology

Political protesting is not unfamiliar to Katie Van Develdes family in the 1970s, her dad took to the streets to protest the war in Vietnam. With older siblings who were also politically active, Van Develde said even as a kid she had an interest.

The secretary of College Progressives said the values Trump promotes are contradictory to the ones she was raised with in her liberal household growing up.

He brings out a lot of negativity you dont want to see, she said, and he doesnt value all people.

After the Womens March on Washington, however, Van Develde said the organizations work is not over. She said College Progressives are working to participate in more discourse and debates with other organizations because, we need to learn how to listen to each other, were all people and have to respect each other.

During his time at Penn State, Samuel Chelemer involved himself in politics as president of the political science association. However, traveling to the march was the first time he physically was taking a stand for political causes he believes in.

He said the last three months were a wakeup call for not only the country, but for himself. Respect for women, he said, was one of the biggest issues motivating him to become active.

I have women in my life I care about, and for the first time I did something other than writing a letter, he said. I have three nieces, older sisters and sexual assault survivors in the family. I dont know how I would to explain this election to my nieces the president is someone youre supposed to look up to, and I wouldnt want to leave them in a room alone with him.

Just because Chelemer graduated didnt stop him from returning to his Penn State roots to protest.

I have a pen and pencil, congressmen and women to write to and a checkbook, he said. Im not going to sit back and be quiet.

Anthony Zarzycki fell asleep on election night in 2008 before the results were announced. But the sound of Barak Obama supporters cheering and celebrating on TV woke him up and instantly drew him in. He said that moment was like gravity hitting him, and he knew history was changing.

His upbringing in the rural Poconos didnt expose him to politics, and it wasnt until he got to Penn State that he saw what political opportunities existed.

Opportunities such as serving as secretary of Students for Sanders, a member of NextGen Climate Change and a volunteer with the Clinton campaign in the fall.

For the better part of 2016 Zarzycki dedicated his time working toward the election.

The election in which his dad, granddad and uncle voted for Donald Trump.

Zarzycki said his family had an ongoing joke about their different political differences. Every time he would come home from school he would stick a Hillary Clinton sign in the front lawn, and the next time he came home his would dad find another reason to remove it.

Zarzycki laughed at this memory, but became serious when talking about where he sees the progressive movement going.

Trump ran on a populist message, and I hope this shows him that most people dont think thats the way to make America great, he said. So many people got energized by Bernie Sanders, and we need to invigorate and energize the people to bring back communication. Democracy cant work without the people.

Marco Ciappettas first foray into political activism was just a few months ago. It was the Tuesday after Election Day when he joined the several hundred students, faculty and community members that gathered on Old Main lawn for the Not my President protest. An experience which Ciapetta called nerve wracking, as he knew that form of protesting would be happening a lot more during the Trump administration.

A few months later when Ciappetta learned the College Progressives were going to the Womens March on Washington, he said he never felt such a strong need to participate in something.

Ive always been more empathetic, but that escalated in an international relations class when we learned about feminism, he said. Women, historically, have been the most oppressed and I truly believe men and women are equal.

Vladmir Putin is at the hot seat of Americas focus right now, but the Russian leader has long impacted Daria Sipiginas view of politics.

Sipigina is a masters student originally from the Ukraine a country that experienced a political revolution of its own in 2013. Sipigina said Ukraines revolution is similar to the current state of American politics, calling Donald Trumps populistic messages concerning.

Though shes an international student and didnt vote in the election, Sipigina said she felt compelled to protest because of Trumps relationship with Putin the leader who annexed Crimea and forced her native country into revolution. Thats why, she said, she wrote on her sign Trump Putin16 Make Tyranny Great Again.

Only through many deaths we understood how important a vote can be, she said. Our citizens are being killed. Americans should try to value their vote its taken for granted here and people dont realize how hard it is in some countries.

During her senior year of high school, classmates stuck Donald Trump stickers on Rylie Coopers car. In the red county of Juniata, Pa., Coopers liberal political views stuck out among the sea of the Make America Great Again hats that filled her schools hallway.

My dads a diehard democrat and taught me you didnt have to think like everyone else did, she said.

Cooper initially started as a Bernie Sanders supporter, and even made the visit to Penn State her senior year when he spoke in Rec Hall.

But from the moment Cooper came to campus as a student, she immediately joined the College Progressives. Even though she was always politically outspoken, she said the organization made her more outspoken about the issues shes most concerned with.

As a member of the LGBT community who lives with a chronic illness and is planning to study environmental sciences, her biggest concern are LGBT rights, healthcare and climate change.

At the march, Cooper found herself among likeminded women passionate about the same issues she is.

You dont need to study political science to be an activist, she said.

Despite not seeing the outcome of the presidential election that she wanted, president of College Democrats Veronica Weyhrauch has big plans for her organization going forward.

We have to make sure were not just showing up to a march on one day of the year, she said. Every day we need to focus on these issues.

Hearing speakers such as Gloria Steinem and Mothers of the Movement gave her that inspiration to keep that focus going the rest of the semester, she said.

College Democrats plans include interacting with local elected officials and launching a campus informational campaign on immigration.

A woman holds a sign above her head during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A woman stands on top of a rock and holds a sign in protest of the inauguration of Donald Trump during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

Two men hold signs of Trump kissing Putin during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A group of people dance together as Madonna performs on stage during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

Women hold signs during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A woman holds a sign during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A woman holds a sign ontop of a porta potty during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A huge turnout of protesters during the Womens March on Washington at the U.S. Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

The metro station is filled with people after the Womens March on Washington in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A huge turnout of supporters participated in the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A woman has Trumps Hate drawn on her face during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A woman wears a pink mask during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

Protesters raise their fists in the air during the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.

A huge turnout of protesters participate in the Womens March on Washington at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a day after the inauguration of Donald Trump on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.