On Friday, Sept. 18, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, surrounded by her loved ones in Washington, D.C., at the age of 87, after experiencing complications with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Ginsburg received her B.A. from Cornell University and her LL.B. from Columbia Law School. She was the associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure, and a professor at Rutgers and Columbia’s respective law schools. After being fundamentally involved in the Women’s Rights Project through the American Civil Liberties Union, she ultimately served as its general counsel from 1973-1980. After being appointed in 1980, she served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Ginsburg to the United State’s Supreme Court, where she served this great nation for over 27 years.
Her passing is so unfathomable, painful and momentous because of her extraordinary life’s work, which has curated an impossibly revered legacy. We live in what seems to be a continuously fracturing nation where we endure polarizing politics and the decay of democracy. To lose someone who fought so hard for civil liberties and against injustices, without a moment of rest until her last day, feels more harrowing than ever before. What is even more incomprehensible is that we cannot sit and revel in the power of Ginsburg’s life and the sorrow we feel in her death. Instead, we collectively contemplate the future of America that weighs in the balance due to this presidential election and the now open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
I find myself at a loss. The promise of America is crumbling before our very eyes. In the past four years, we have witnessed unending acts of hateful racism and inscrutable fascism. In this moment, we should call it for what it is: We are bordering on becoming an authoritarian regime that hides under the facade of making America great again.
Take a moment to feel shocked, saddened and angry that Ginsburg had to bear the weight of holding the integrity of a nation on her back, proven in her final statement: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” But now it’s time to get to work. Now is the time to be inspired by a generation that calls out lies and protests for the good of the most disadvantaged.
We must fight for the moral core of this country in light of democracy being at stake. Now is the time to vote for America and not an almost-impeached president who had a chance to do the job and failed to meet the bar of expectations. In the wake of Ginsburg’s death, we must remember what it means to dissent. If there was ever a moment to become deeply invested in being civically engaged, now is the time.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg always stood with the people. She embodied the meaning of what it meant to solidify yourself in places where decisions are being made. She was a pioneer for women’s rights and is the reason that people like myself will have the opportunity to ever have a career in the workplace. The Supreme Court, being the highest court in the land, drastically affects every one of our lives, whether you are a college student or are already retired. We must make sure that the person who fills Ginsburg’s seat will be someone who makes decisions on behalf of all of us, not just some of us.
Now is the time to phone bank, make a voting plan with your friends, have conversations with others about platform issues and organize. As civically engaged college students, it is our job to participate in politics that builds towards a better future.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life on this earth has come to an end. The next chapter of America, where we uphold the promise of who we could be, is just beginning. The only way we can honor the heroes who served us so courageously is to show up and do the work. For Elijah Cummings, John Lewis and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we must pursue the extraordinary possibility of this nation.
May your memory be a blessing, Justice Ginsburg. Thank you for your service.
