Far Beyond Cayuga’s Waters: An Interview with Alumnus Brendan Dodd

The Cornell Review reached out to ILR alumnus Brendan Dodd ‘21 to talk about his experience. Dodd served as the social chair, vice president of external operations, and secretary of the College Republicans at Cornell. He also was involved in the Cornell Political Union, Cornell International Affairs Society, and the Cornell Model United Nations Conference. Dodd was also the vice president and founding treasurer of the nonpartisan Alexander Hamilton Society chapter. He also was a Cornell Tradition Fellow. After graduating in 2021, Mr. Dodd joined the Alexander Hamilton Society as Special Assistant to the Executive Director.

Editor-in-Chief S. Kim: Thank you. Thank you. So I guess getting into like the meat of this interview, looking back on your time at Cornell as an alumnus, how would you describe your experience in Ithaca?

Alumnus Brendan Dodd, Class of ‘21: I would say I had a pretty positive experience at Cornell. I met a lot of the people who I would consider my closest friends today. Many people I met, I’m still in touch with today. And I see them on a regular basis, even now living in Washington DC. I also travel to visit friends in other cities.

I really enjoyed Cornell. It definitely shaped a lot of how I view the world. When I came to Cornell, I was not very well formed politically, and I’d say religiously too. And over the course of my four years, it really was a transformative experience for me. I think a lot of people would agree with that.

And obviously roughly three out of my semesters were during COVID. So that was a very unique situation as well. I was sent home in the spring of 2020, and then was back on campus in the 2020-2021 school year. I was living in Ithaca, but taking all of my classes online, which had its own unique challenges. And it was a different type of college experience. than most people would anticipate. All of it did help shape me into the person I am today.

S. Kim: So you mentioned a little bit about how politically you weren’t as well formed and that Cornell really shaped your views of the world and how you view politics. Looking back, how much of a role do you think politics played in everyday interactions at Cornell?

B. Dodd: It depends a lot honestly. In terms of class and interacting with classmates & professors, little to none. I don’t think that if you’re on campus, you should be bringing politics into interactions or environments where it doesn’t belong. I don’t think you should be forcing political issues, because it’s not necessary. It’s not gonna make you any friends, especially as a conservative, and it’s not an enjoyable thing. It’s not fun for anybody. I would say on the day to day, politics did not play a role that much in terms of my classes, my work, things like that.

In terms of my social life, I would say that it actually played a very large role. I found that most of the people who ended up being my long term friends in college, and even after college, were people I met through organizations like the Cornell Republicans, the Cornell Political Union. And those were organizations I joined pretty early on as well.

CR’s was actually the first club I joined on campus, because I showed up on campus not really knowing where I stood politically. I considered myself pretty much center-left, but knew that I was probably too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives. I knew that going to the College Republicans would be the only place I would get a fair shake. I’d be able to disagree with them with minimal controversy.

So, College Republicans was the first organization I joined as a freshman. I went to meetings every single week. I could probably count on one hand the number of meetings I missed over the course of my four years on campus. I joined the Political Union spring semester of my freshman year. 

Those were organizations that formed a lot of my experience and provided a lot of my friendships and social life on campus. So in that regard, politics played a very large role, so I would say that it can play a large role, especially if those are the kinds of people you wanna surround yourself with. But it doesn’t have to consume your life. And I don’t think it should consume your whole life.

S. Kim: Did you feel uncomfortable sharing your beliefs in class or in non-conservative organizations? You touched on this topic in your last answer about class, that it’s not fruitful to force politics into daily interactions. If you could shed a bit of light on whether or not there were difficult conversations in non-conservative organizations, whether they be center-left, centrist, nonpartisan. And in addition to that, how would you describe the campus climate, during your time at Cornell?

B. Dodd: That’s a good question. I would say that there were times in class where it came up, obviously, especially in classes that were in the government department or even some history classes or ILR classes. Your worldview shapes how you interpret things and the kind of comments you give in class.

I was fortunate. I never felt any kind of discrimination or judgment from my professors for sharing conservative opinions in class. I actually had some professors who encouraged me to speak up because they wanted to hear that perspective and knew that I was the only conservative student, or at least the only vocal conservative, in the class. So, all in all, I had a pretty positive experience with my professors in that regard and with my classes.

I would say the political climate at Cornell changed a lot while I was there. I think it trended in a negative direction. A lot of the time, the political climate gradually became less tolerant of conservative points of view and conservative voices. During my freshman year, it really wasn’t too much of an issue for most people. By the time I was graduating, I would say most people still weren’t super plugged to that kind of stuff, but there was definitely a lot more backlash directed at conservatives.

S. Kim: You were involved in the College Republicans, the Cornell Political Union. You helped start the AHS chapter and played a role in CIAS. How would you assess the impact you made on campus more broadly, and then, in a more narrow sense, how would you assess the impact that you made as far as advancing the conservative movement or just introducing people to the conservative point of view?

B. Dodd: Yeah. That’s an interesting question. I think I would say that the biggest contributions that were made to the conservative movement while I was on campus—that I can claim any part in at least—are not, not ones about any kind of political victories or change in the way campus operates or campus culture or anything like that. And honestly, I don’t really think that’s what the goal of a conservative movement on campus ought to be. The way I view it, the role of conservative organizations on campus is to, you know, provide a voice for conservatives, and share the conservative point of view. And I think that the organizations I was a part of did that, well, and did that respectfully. The point is not to be going out there and sort of crusading and trying to “take back the institutions” or anything like that.

Because for one, it’s never going to happen. And then two, people aren’t really receptive to that sort of thing. It’s just gonna make you overly-combative. And people sort of recoil at that. Not wanting to hear what you have to say. I think the more productive use of people’s time and what I think we tried to focus on when I was on campus was providing spaces for conservative students, providing a sense of community, and providing opportunities for intellectually curious students, and people, students, curious about learning more about conservative thought. To meet, to discuss ideas, to have discussions and debates and to try to deepen their understanding of things and develop themselves as people. And so, I think what I would view as the biggest victory of conservatives from when I was on campus is that we were able to provide a better sense of community and a more intellectually serious and rigorous place and culture for students.

S. Kim: So moving on towards the penultimate question: you talk about conservative victories, you talk about creating this space for people who are already conservative, those who are intellectually curious, who might be heterodox thinkers. What lessons did you take away from your time at Cornell, both personally and politically?

B. Dodd: It sounds cheesy actually, but one thing that I learned is: definitely stand up for what you believe in. I think that’s very important and I think that you run some risks when you do that, but it’s always worth it to be true to yourself and to know that you’re doing the right thing. I think that’s the most important thing. Just being able to say to yourself, “I know I’m standing up for what I believe in. I know I’m doing the right thing.” At the same time, not to be going out there and throwing fire bombs, trying to be provocative for the sake of being provocative. So you kind of have to chart this course, I think where you are not shying away from what you believe in and not censoring yourself, but at the same time, not being a firebrand just for the sake of provocation.

I think that’s something that I’ve carried with me, past college, as well into my view of politics and the way I conduct myself where I want to be somebody that’s true to what I believe in won’t equivocate on my beliefs. At the same time, being respectful to people, treating people the right way and, and not trying to anger people just for the sake of angering them or causing division or scandal, treating others the way they ought to be treated while not shying away from your beliefs.

S. Kim: And finally, what advice would you give to the incoming Class of 2026?

B. Dodd: My advice would be—I think it’s a Mark Twain quote, a favorite of mine—not to let your classwork get in the way of your education. My advice would be: read. Read a lot, read deeply and read widely, read as much as you can get your hands on. Try to really digest it and understand it. And if you feel like you can’t understand it, or if you feel like there’s more “there” and you want to bounce ideas off of somebody, find other people to read with. Find other people to talk about ideas with. 

Try to give Cornell what she deserves. Immerse yourself in the history that’s there, the Cornelliana. You’re part of something bigger than yourself. The university, she deserves to be treated in a certain way. She serves to be treated with a certain respect, a certain reverence even. What you’re given is not your own. Try to leave things better than you found them.

S. Kim: Awesome. Thank you so much again, Brendan. I really appreciate you taking the time to give us this interview and also to provide some very sage advice to the incoming Class of 2026. 

This piece was originally printed in the Cornell Review’s September 2022 Freshman Edition.