Under the baobab: Celebrating wins and looking forward to comebacks in 2026
It’s 2026. Happy 250th birthday, America. Democracy today, democracy tomorrow, democracy forever, but only if, we the people, fight to keep it.
Congratulations to Terry Smith, the first interim head coach in Penn State’s history to win a bowl game. During the last quarter of the Pinstripe Bowl, our PSU crowd chanted “Ter-ry, Ter-ry.” It is fitting that Smith will be on the coaching staff next year under head coach Matt Campbell.
Smith was not by himself in the frosty clime. More than half of the fans in the stands had made the trip to cheer on PSU’s 22-10 victory. Trebor Pena with 100 yards receiving and a TD was named the game’s MVP. Quarterback Ethan Grunkeyemer, offensive player of the game, threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Quinton Martin, Jr. ran for 101 yards as the Lions’ offense piled up 397 yards. Dani Dennis-Sutton had two sacks and was the games defensive player. Amare Campbell and Vaboue Toure led the team with seven tackles.
It was a happy ending to an otherwise dismal year. The team had suffered one of its worst losing streaks, six in a row. Under Smith’s leadership, the team picked themselves up off the mat. They won their last four games and finished with a winning record for the season, 7-6. Their “no quit” attitude inspired and illuminated a way forward for the rest of us tackling non-gridiron problems like climate change, income redistribution, the failure of our health system and the corruption of our democratic ideals.
Others celebrated dancing toward the light at the end of 2025. In women’s ice hockey, rookie skater Matilde Fantin scored a power play goal with five minutes left in the third period to win a hard played contest against tenth ranked Cornell. Katie DeSa made a season-high 35 saves for her seventh shutout of the season. The three time AHA champions and No. 4 ranked Nittany Lions finished the calendar year with an 18-1 record and play No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus on Friday.
The unbeaten PSU wrestling team continued its domination. Marcus Blaze was named B1G Freshman of the Week and Shayne Van Ness was honored as B1G Wrestler of the Week. They were Penn State’s second and third awards of 2025. And Kayden Mingo and Eli Rice led the men’s basketball team to a 90-67 year ending victory over North Carolina Central.
Coincidentally the campus was visited by another Rice last week. Former Domestic Policy and National Security Advisor and UN Ambassador Susan Rice came by Rec Hall to cheer on her niece, Kiki Rice, one of the stars of the 4th ranked UCLA women’s basketball team. Ambassador Rice was guardedly optimistic about the Democrats winning back the House during this year’s midterm election.
The resistance continues. Community activists at Thompson Tuesdays continue to protest at U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson’s Bellefonte office at noon on Tuesdays. A national “No Kings” rally is being planned for 2026.
Democracy’s 2026 comeback began on a positive note. Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City by Senator Bernie Sanders, a fellow democratic socialist. Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor, first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, he is also the city’s youngest mayor since the late 19th century. Also sworn in were: Mark Levine as city comptroller by Attorney General Letitia James and Jumaane Williams, who was re-elected as New York City Public Advocate. Levine commented that this was probably the first time in New York that three public officials were sworn in using the Quran, a Christian bible, and a Tanakh. It was good to be reminded that our diversity is our strength.
We are in this together. We are the people, E pluribus unum.
Charles Dumas is a lifelong political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Congress in 2012. He is a Lions Paw honoree. He lives in State College with his wife and partner of over 50 years.