Miami-Dade College’s decision on Trump library is a slap in the face of students | Opinion
Slap in the face
To build Donald Trump’s presidential library on the grounds of Miami Dade College, next to the Freedom Tower — a historic emblem of refuge and hope — is a twisted irony. Trump’s political legacy is deeply tied to restrictive immigration policies, including efforts to limit asylum and expand deportations. Placing this library beside a monument to those who found refuge in America is jarring: a site that once embodied welcome and hope will soon share space with a project tied to a leader whose policies often narrowed those very pathways.
This is a purely political and misguided decision by MDC’s Board of Trustees and its leadership and a matter of institutional integrity and mission drift: the plan is not just to build a library but to commercialize it by including a hotel. The project is also a slap in the face to a student body that is 56% female and 85% Hispanic or African American.
The Trump administration has weakened diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. For instance, women leaders at agencies like the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were removed, weakening enforcement of workplace discrimination protections.
Trump’s second term began with 46 executive orders, many targeting immigration. One of the most controversial was to redefine birthright citizenship, which could leave U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants stateless.
Trump has no cultural connection or concern about MDC’s ties to the community it serves. The decision risks diluting MDC’s role as a public-serving institution and will likely affect the college’s standing with students, alumni and Miami’s diverse immigrant communities.
Toby Rohrer,
MDC Board of Directors, 2019 -2025,
former member, MDC Foundation,
Key Biscayne
Guns in town
I had the honor of reading Prayer for Our Country at my temple for Rosh Hashanah services. As the ban on open carry has been lifted in Florida in these days of awe, I find myself praying for all good people — gun owners and non-gun owners — in our state.
I pray for my South Florida community of children and adults of all ages. I sincerely hope that our Miami-Dade County mayor and board of commissioners exercise sound judgement on where firearms are permitted and where they are not.
Connie Goodman-Milone,
Miami
Old tracks
Brightline, the highspeed passenger train, uses the Florida East Coast railroad tracks laid down by Henry Flagler in 1896 with the birth of the City of Miami. Today, it would be like Highway U.S. 1 being used for Interstate 95 high-speed lanes.
It should not take $42 million of federal funds to figure out why there are more crashes and deaths than any other railway line in America.
John H. Schulte,
Coral Gables
Traffic headache
The monstrous mixed-use building, “Grove Central,” erected at the corner of Southwest 27th avenue and U.S. 1, has caused continuous traffic tie-ups, with delays of up to 25 minutes to cross U.S. 1. Adding insult to injury, traffic lights are not synchronized, so motorists remain stopped from 25th street and 27th avenue, unable to access U.S. 1.
Who performed the necessary traffic study, a kindergarten student?
It should be common knowledge in Miami that large buildings contribute to traffic tie-ups when the local transportation network is not designed to handle the additional vehicles and people they attract. Perhaps a FOIA request for a copy of the traffic study that clearly has failed motorists and residents in the area is needed.
Joanne Tomarchio,
Miami
Cruise hazards
The Herald’s Sept. 23 report, “Judge rules Carnival Corp. was negligent in a passenger’s fall,” characterized the outcome here as “significant” because such complaints are “not common” and rarely “make it to trial” — a troubling truth, but one that pales among a broader mix of factors that ought to alert all potential cruise passengers to the persistent possibility of injury and death.
The person who points boarding families to their muster and lifeboat stations is likely the last American they will see on their journeys overseas. The engine and deck officers and crews are foreign nationals who do not hold or qualify for professional credentials, required and provided by the U.S. Coast Guard to all American merchant mariners in all waterborne services under the U.S. flag.
But for one cruise ship operating exclusively in the Hawaiian Islands, all such U.S.-based vessels are registered under foreign “flags of convenience” — Liberia, Panama, the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas and many others. Once these vessels leave the 12-mile U.S. territorial sea, no federal or state tax, navigation, propulsion, labor or health and safety laws apply.
The Herald may be inclined to provide Florida-based cruise lines with positive press, as they are significant local employers, but these are shoreside jobs. The real, relentless risks to Florida families are at sea, when these cruise ships are well underway.
Paul Doell,
Miami
Bill of what?
Today’s America is dripping with irony, as anyone disagreeing with Charlie Kirk, a huge proponent of free speech, must be censored and/or canceled. Even actor Tom Hanks was canceled, when he was prevented from receiving an award from West Point, the U.S. military academy, because he was thought to be too “woke.”
Will Qatar, having learned President Trump knew of the bombing of Doha beforehand, ask for the white elephant of a jet be returned?
Will we ever be as passionate about the First Amendment as we are about the Second Amendment?
Christine Karelas,
Miami
A quiet place
Botanists, biologists and other scientific experts say that humans cause the extinction of various forms of life daily. Ideas can also become extinct — some for better, some for worse.
Following is incomplete list of ideas that have become extinct in this country in the last few years: scientific rigor as a polestar of the search for truth; unvarnished history; uncensored speech and writings; vestiges of racism past and present; the sensitivity of our planet to human existence; the arts as a source of enlightenment; that justice arms the weakest not the strongest of us; the unstrained quality of mercy.
These extinctions are not noted in any fossil record and their deaths are often scuttled, silently, by us.
L. Gabriel Bach,
Key Biscayne
Design issues
According to the Herald’s Sept. 24 report, “Miami Dade College Board vote sets stage for Trump presidential library,” this library will rise next to the Freedom Tower.
Really?
I would have thought the buildings would be antithetical.
Jorge L. Crespo,
Coral Gables
Moving apart?
At the United Nations, France and Britain formally declared their recognition of a Palestinian state.
I suggest France and Britain have a two-state solution, too. One for their Arab populations and another for native British and French, respectively.
David Myles,
Miami
Pushing buttons
Roberto Alonso, Miami-Dade College Board of Trustees’ vice chairman, said the proposed Trump presidential library next to Miami’s Freedom Tower “would really take Miami to the next level.”
Will that be up or down?
Leo Bueno,
Coral Gables
Ratings winner
Congratulations to President Trump for making TV host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel more popular than ever. In trying to ban Kimmel from television, Trump gave him a lifetime contract.
Furthermore, ABC Network owner Disney showed a backbone by standing up to the president. Hopefully, other companies will follow.
Brian Scott,
Tallahassee
Unrivaled
I spent most of my life living in Pennsylvania until retiring and have spent the last eight years in Florida. I try to keep up with the news from my former state.
Recently, a headline in a major Pennsylvania newspaper read, “PA is challenging Florida for title of stupidest state in the union.“ This quite interesting editorial explained some of the dumb things both state governments do to rival each other.
Sadly, Pennsylvania is not even close. Until it stops requiring vaccines for school children, ignores the effects of climate change, bans more books than any other state and elects a governor who seems to enjoy putting people in cages, it will not catch us.
Floridians, rejoice! No one will take our title as the stupidest state in the nation.
John Bonano,
Gulfport