Dear Residents.

I wish I could be the person to tell you that everything is going to be OK, but I can’t. I wish I could protect you from everything that is about to come, but I can’t even protect myself. I wish I could tell you that I’m not freaking out, but the churning in my stomach and the anxiety in my heart have told me otherwise.

You are still young and have grown up in a society that has told you the harder you work the more successful you will become. And I don’t want to crush that spirit because it is truly a revolutionary one, but part of my job is to prepare you for the realities of life and this college experience. And the reality is this:

If you are living in America and you are a woman, a person of color, poor, have a disability, of the Muslim faith, transgender, or anything else that is less than the norm of being a white CIS gendered heterosexual male, you will always be seen as the other, and America will never truly be meant for you.

And I don’t say that so you can stop fighting or quit living. I tell you that because I want you to be defensive and I want you to be safe. We have always lived in a dangerous country, but this election has made it that much easier for people to come out and preach hate and act upon that hatred and turn it into genuine violence.

America is showing its true colors, and they are not so bright. So if you are my resident and you are living in this world as anything less than the norm, be safe but not afraid. I cannot tell you that everything is going to be okay, but I can tell you that I haven’t lost hope. Last night we lost a hard battle, and not because Hillary Clinton didn’t win, but because we elected someone who has threatened the very livelihood of American residents.

America will shift, and I don’t know how it’s going to look just yet, but it could very much impact your lives. Life from here on out will be different. But I urge you to keep hope alive and do here at UCI what you came out here to do. Keeping in mind that I may not have all the answers but I am here for you if you need me.

If any of you are Trump supporters and I have offended you with this message, I do apologize, but I don’t regret this post. It is my duty as a human being to let you know that I think we have made a huge mistake. And we have elected a president that is racist, sexist, xenophobic, and stands against everything we value, and in the end, it may very well divide us much more than it needs to.

I am so sorry for us all, and if you need to talk, please give me a call or a knock on my door.

Thanks,

Byron Barahona
Resident Advisor