For this upcoming school year, St. Edward’s University has chosen the bite-size treatise “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder for the university Common Read. Snyder’s book offers readers 20 lessons on battling a type of controlling governmental system which restricts freedom called authoritarianism.
While originally published in 2017, the text has been updated in order to account for modern threats that Snyder believes we face in 2024. In the wake of national and local crises, lessons about organizing and increasing awareness highlight why St. Edward’s students must defend the importance of truth and transparency with our institutions and communities.
Each year, a committee of students, faculty and staff headed by Emma Woelk, Ph.D., select a Common Theme meant to guide programming at the university. This helps to expose incoming students to new topics and promote discourse in the university.
Although primarily written in response to the 2016 presidential election over concerns on the rise of fascism following Trump’s election, “On Tyranny” serves as an interesting common read selection in the context of the events of last school year.
In the spring semester of the 2023-2024 school year, students began to express concerns over the removal of a Pride flag which used to be located in Meadows coffeehouse. These concerns were initially met with opaque responses from administration, but organization and collective efforts by students and faculty created the momentum for administration to rectify some of their previous actions.
It is an overstatement to conflate the actions of St. Edward’s administration to tyrannical rulers, but it is necessary to recognize abuses of power within our own communities as Snyder suggests. When we allow those in power to make decisions that are unchecked, we allow them the potential to control our society’s narratives and processes.
As Snyder outlines in his tenth and eleventh lessons, we must “believe in our truth” and “investigate.” A disengaged public is just as dangerous as an overzealous politician trying to attain more power, as we allow ourselves to be taken advantage of.
The selection of “On Tyranny” as this year’s common read seeks to eliminate this possibility. The purpose of our common read is meant to influence university programming and conversations across campus, and I can easily see a constructive dialogue forming between different stakeholders within the university.
Additionally, potential Freshman Seminar courses using themes from “On Tyranny” will help inform and educate a new group of voters who will likely vote for the first time in the 2024 presidential election. Youth turnout in elections remains a weak spot for American democracy and, though the rate has grown, it will play a critical role in the upcoming election.
St. Edward’s prides itself on educating the “Hearts and Minds” of its student body, and this year’s common read aids this by imploring its students to engage more critically with society around them.
However, simply selecting a book on political awareness will not bring awareness or empower students without active participation from all members of the St. Edward’s community. Students, faculty, staff and administration must all do their due diligence to, as Snyder states in lesson 2, “to defend institutions.” Conversations and action are essential to the continued stability of all of our communities large and small.
