{"id":11458,"date":"2025-03-05T13:19:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T13:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=11458"},"modified":"2025-03-05T13:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T13:19:04","slug":"rise-of-the-right-students-return-to-cpac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2025\/03\/rise-of-the-right-students-return-to-cpac\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Rise of the Right\u2019 Students Return to CPAC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On February 19, Fieldston students enrolled in the spring semester elective \u2018Rise of the Right in Contemporary American Politics\u2019 once again departed for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) This year\u2019s event, held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, attracted a combined 61 students across four sections of the class\u2014two taught by Dr. Tammi, the Upper School History Department Chair, and two by History Teacher Dr. Banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip was initially proposed over a decade ago with hopes of enabling Fieldston students to take a step outside of the school\u2019s \u201cliberal bubble\u201d and learn first-hand about the conservative movement. Banks recalls taking a trip down to DC around 2010, during which they met with conservative think tank people, Andrew Langer and more libertarian think tanks. During this visit, they realized that the experience was centered around policymakers at an elite level, and CPAC was simultaneously becoming much more popular. Banks shares, \u201cIt\u2019s a place where conservative ideas were getting debated and where activists would be gathering, they had student tickets and it would just be a great learning experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banks shares how going to CPAC has been a really eye-opening experience, particularly in this class, because \u201cyou get to put all of our learning in context at CPAC, and you\u2019re also talking to people who, for the most part, Fieldston students aren\u2019t coming in contact with on a daily basis.\u201d Banks also emphasizes the importance of remaining informed, regardless of one\u2019s political views. \u201cWhether you\u2019re completely opposed to what\u2019s going on right now with the conservative movement or supportive, it\u2019s a learning experience, and it\u2019s a unique one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ela Garlin (Form V) reflects on her experience at CPAC, revealing how she was not expecting to fit in as a \u201cyoung liberal black girl,\u201d which \u201caren\u2019t exactly the target demographics of the Republican party at the moment.\u201d Garlin shares how she engaged in several captivating discussions with people, most of whom assumed she shared similar political ideologies. Garlin emphasizes a fear that her experience would not have been so pleasant had she been honest about her beliefs, having reported only encountering one group of moderates in her two days at the conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garlin mentions how none of the speeches came as a surprise, yet some were \u201cdefinitely a bit jarring.\u201d She describes encountering a \u201cdeportation center\u201d backdrop of people posing for photos in front of a man wearing an ICE jacket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garlin reflects, \u201cI later saw an interview where he explained that he likes to wear it to Home Depot and scare undocumented immigrants.\u201d Garlin shares how this made her \u201cquestion the morals of the \u2018right\u2019\u201d and the role this extremist behavior plays in the rapidly increasing political polarization. \u201cCPAC displayed the shift of the Republican Party in a direction further and further from conservatism in its original sense.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Source: Dr. Tammi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Alexander Goodman (Form V) states how attending CPAC was a fantastic experience, exceeding his expectations. He shares how a highlight was getting to see Elon Musk speak. \u201c[I] loved the chainsaw and how obviously high Musk was.\u201d Goodman then goes on to discuss the evolution of politics and the Republican Party. \u201cPolitics used to be quieter, more dignified, you know? CPAC showed me that now it\u2019s closer to a circus. Whoever can produce the most shock and awe wins.\u201d Goodman adds, \u201cI didn\u2019t hear a single piece of actual legislation mentioned by any of the mainstage speakers\u2026Very, very funny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isabel Gorman (Form V) describes her overall experience as \u201cenjoyable and entertaining,\u201d but upon entering the hotel, quickly questioned what she had gotten herself into. Gorman reveals how she expected the conference to be \u201cmuch fancier\u201d than it was. \u201cI thought everybody was going to wear dresses or a suit and a tie\u2026I definitely didn\u2019t expect to see people walking with their cats and really showing who they are.\u201d Yet, the conference was not just an entertaining comedy show. Gorman reveals how she learned about the education system from Erika Donalds, chair of America First Policy Institute Center for Education Opportunity, and reflects, \u201cI thought it was quite interesting to hear that the popular system is a failure. I didn\u2019t know that, nor had I thought about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlotte Symons (Form V) reflects on her shock to discover that many of the January 6 participants were in attendance and that many of such were treated as war heroes. Symons commented on the tattoos many of them had, sharing, \u201cThere was even a guy signing autographs.\u201d She emphasizes the surprise of bearing witness to this because \u201cyou never see that here, but they were big hits down there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Gallen (Form V) reveals how one of the attendees she interviewed started crying \u201cbecause he loves America so much.\u201d She shares how remarkable it was to be surrounded by such patriotic citizens, a stark contrast to the New York City crowd she encounters daily. Gallen also mentions being approached by several attendees to sign petitions for Trump 2028. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize people were actively trying to find a way for Trump to remain in office. I assumed it was a given that after serving two terms, his time as president would be terminated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallen reflects on receiving condolences from several attendees once they discovered that she resides in New York City. \u201cThese women expressed genuine concern for my safety and sanity. They asked if I ever felt unsafe due to the overwhelming immigrant population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Source: Ella Eisenberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For many Fieldston students, being in an environment like that of CPAC was a drastic adjustment and wake-up call. Growing up in the liberal bubble that is New York City and is further illustrated through our progressive education system, attending CPAC enabled students to experience the opposite extreme. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On February 19, Fieldston students enrolled in the spring semester elective \u2018Rise of the Right in Contemporary American Politics\u2019 once again departed for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) This year\u2019s event, held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, attracted a combined 61 students across four sections of the class\u2014two taught by Dr. Tammi, the Upper School History Department Chair, and two by History Teacher Dr. Banks. The trip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":358,"featured_media":11459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[347,318,320,441],"tags":[],"coauthors":[553],"class_list":["post-11458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news","category-politics","category-world"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-05-at-8.17.23-AM-e1741180671118.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/358"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11460,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11458\/revisions\/11460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11458"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}