This article is featured in the 2026 Commencement special issue.
I registered as a Republican in Florida one month and two days before I turned 18 — just weeks before I left for Hanover to go cabin camping as part of my First-Year Trip. While at Dartmouth, I was active in the College Republicans and served as vice president during my sophomore summer. The Dartmouth covered my penchant for political and civic engagement on several occasions during my time on campus.
In 2011, as a first-generation college student from South Florida, I proudly walked across the Green to receive my diploma — the same day the College awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to former President George H.W. Bush. I belted out “Happy Birthday” loudly in direct defiance of those progressives who had chosen to turn their backs on the president I had long looked up to. Though my respect for Bush transcended party labels, I was dismayed by classmates who chose protest over basic courtesy.
I still remember the deep pride I felt that day, both as a Dartmouth man and as a conservative. Bush embodied decency, duty, public service and quiet strength. His honorary degree felt right because it celebrated character, leadership and service to country above partisan politics. It reinforced that Dartmouth could still recognize greatness that transcended the moment’s ideological battles.
That memory stands in stark contrast to the recent controversy surrounding Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression president and chief executive officer Greg Lukianoff’s honorary degree. I became a member of the Dartmouth Free Speech Alliance after attending reunions last summer, where I met John Murphy ’10 at an invite-only event for class volunteers with College President Sian Leah Beilock. Through FIRE, Lukianoff has spent decades defending free speech for students and faculty across the entire political spectrum — left, right and center. His work protects the open inquiry and robust debate that made my own Dartmouth experience possible as a first-generation student.
Yet instead of celebrating this consistent, principled defense of core academic values, some voices on campus treated his honor as a partisan affront. The reaction says more about today’s campus climate than it does about the honoree.
Honorary degrees should affirm courage, integrity and service — not function as ideological loyalty tests. They should reward those who strengthen the institution’s highest ideals, just as Dartmouth did when it honored Bush.
As a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s newly drawn 22nd District, I aim to make it past the Republican primary and ultimately expand our bipartisan Dartmouth caucus from five to six members in January 2027. I remain hopeful that Dartmouth will uphold the same standard it set in 2011. The College once showed it could look beyond party lines to honor individuals of genuine accomplishment. It should do so again with Greg Lukianoff.
First-generation students like me attended Dartmouth seeking an education grounded in truth-seeking and open discourse. Preserving that environment requires consistent commitment to free speech principles — precisely the kind Lukianoff has championed for years.
Steve Avila is a member of the Class of 2011 and a Republican candidate for Florida’s 22nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Guest columns represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
