On October 25th, Boston College CRs hosted the New Tolerance Campaign President Gregory Angelo on their campus. According to current president of the Boston College CR club James Markis, the the guest speaker event was “a great success” and that Angelo “knows the exact situation that the CRs at Boston College [is] regarding speaker limitations and hostility from the vast majority of the student body.”

James reflected on Angelo’s alumnus being Boston College and about Angelo’s experiences dealing with political issues. 

“[Angelo] talked about how when he attended Boston College, Patrick Buchanan had the opportunity to talk to the school and it largely went on without protest, whereas now, he wouldn’t even be allowed on campus. He talked about how he initially pushed for corporations to support marriage equality in the early 2010s in hopes of passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, but in the past five years, he has seen a major error in that decision. Instead of only supporting marriage equality or non-discrimination, corporations have now weighed in on major culture war issues ranging from abortion to BLM, to environmental issues, not in the name of financial gain but in political and social [acceptance].”

Markis then elaborated on how modern corporations are now becoming overly politicized and also went into detail about the purpose of Angelo’s campaign. 

“Corporations are not upholding their fiduciary duty but instead taking political stances that are extremely divisive and controversial. His new organization, the New Tolerance Campaign, utilizes grassroots activism and the “call your senator” model, to hold CEOs and Corporations accountable when they stray from their stated missions and neutral positions. Gregory also talked about his time in the Trump Administration in the Office of Drug Control Policy, and how despite the major successes the administration had on the drug epidemic facing this country, the media would rarely give any credit. The issue was largely ignored or portrayed in a negative light, [even though] the issue of decreasing drug overdoses and deaths should not have any controversy whatsoever.”

Markis finished reflecting on his experience with Angelo by declaring his appreciation for the success of the event, future endeavors, and the event itself. 

 “Overall, we appreciated Gregory coming back to his Alma Mater and giving us great insight into the world of lobbying, the Executive Branch, and his current work at NTC. It was a great event for our club, and [we] look forward to continued success throughout the rest of the year!”