Allendale, MI – FRSO organizer Jessica Plichta was invited by Grand Valley State University students to report back from her recent trip to Venezuela on Wednesday, January 14. The reportback event was hosted by the GVSU Progressive Student Union and the Grand Rapids district of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and was held at the Allendale campus of GVSU.

Plichta joined other FRSO members and community activists from across the country in defying the United States’ closure of Venezuelan airspace in early December, in order to attend the International Assembly for Peace and Sovereignty in Our Americas, hosted in Caracas by the Simon Bolivar Institute. The assembly, having successfully convened three weeks before the U.S. government bombed Caracas and kidnapped President Maduro, stressed the need for peace, and for unity among American people fighting against war.

In the days since Trump’s illegal military actions in Venezuela, the mainstream media and social media have been flooded with pro-war, anti-Venezuelan propaganda. Erroneous claims against the democratically elected leader of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, are commonplace, coming from a mix of bot accounts and wealthy elites, who would benefit from seeing Venezuela’s government overthrown.

25 students packed into a classroom for the event. Plichta had photos of her trip to Venezuela projected while she talked about the experience. She highlighted the experience of meeting President Maduro, and how his behavior contrasts with that of U.S. politicians.

“Maduro walked the streets of Venezuela, he openly walked the streets and thousands of people walked alongside him,” said Plichta, “with no police, with no barricades.”

By contrast, U.S. presidents routinely speak behind bulletproof glass, elevated above and far away from crowds. When Trump visits cities, highways are blocked off to everyday commuters so that hundreds of police cars can usher him in with a show of obscene force, as was the case with Trump’s visit to Detroit this week.

Other topics highlighted in Plichta’s presentation included the system of communes in Venezuela, the workplaces, architecture and political artwork in the streets of Caracas, and the vibrancy of the queer community in the city.

With the facts set straight, GVSU students are now better equipped to debunk U.S. propaganda against Venezuela among their friends, classmates and families, and they are better prepared for the anti-war movement to demand President Maduro and Cilia Flores be released.

#AllendaleMI #MI #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #GVSUPSU #FRSO

Allendale, MI – On Tuesday, October 7, the Grand Valley State University Progressive Student Union held a rally on campus to stand with the Palestinian people. After two years of genocide by Israel, and two years of bold resistance by the Palestinian people, students came together to hear speeches and give chants in solidarity with Palestine.

The response of students passing by was overwhelmingly positive. Many stopped and joined the rally for a short time before carrying on, while others stayed for the duration of the protest. Students from the Progressive Student Union and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization addressed the crowd.

A student with PSU, Rachel Rowan, stated, “Rallying for Palestine remains incredibly necessary, with the fact that if the U.S. were to pull out of funding Israel we would not only gain money for American issues but save countless lives. Not only that, but rallying brings us closer together and builds our community, within our own colleges along with a much larger scale! Free Palestine!”

West Michigan has become a very organized region in terms of Palestine solidarity in the past two years. The organization Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids also held a rally on October 7 in Zeeland, protesting the weapons manufacturer Woodward. This rally happened just hours before GVSU students took to their own campus for Palestine.

While the Progressive Student Union is primarily focused on their campaign for a Sanctuary Campus, they continue the work of Palestine solidarity, among many other important political issues.

#AllendaleMI #MI #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS

Allendale, MI – The Progressive Student Union at Grand Valley State University held a teach-in event on Queer and Trans liberation on Monday, September 29. Despite attempts by the GVSU administration and the Office of Student Life to prevent the students from gathering by demanding $380 out of the students to use a room on campus, the PSU successfully held the event in the Arboretum outdoor park space on campus without disruption.

Activists with the Progressive Student Union and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke at the event. The PSU speaker highlighted many trans activists throughout history, such as Marsha P. Johnson and Leslie Feinberg, and how these people contributed to building the mass movements for LGBTQ liberation. A FRSO member then explained how individuals like Feinberg combined the struggle for LGBTQ liberation with the revolutionary struggle to bring down monopoly capitalism, as well as how strict gender roles and transphobia are products of class societies. Leslie Feinberg was a member of the Worker’s World Party during her lifetime.

Dorian Fedewa, representing Progressive Student Union at the event stated, “Trans students like myself are offered empty words of validation and pronoun pins at the counseling center, which feels like a sharp slap in the face after witnessing GV’s administration cave to far-right bigots by taking down a mural with pro-trans messaging outside the LGBT Resource Center, hosting an insane transphobic speaker without offering a university-wide statement of solidarity to its trans students, and now, with this event, pricing us out of a room to present in. I think having this event and receiving this pushback from admin clearly shows where they stand on protecting their trans students, if it doesn't involve something as non-committal as wearing a pin or sticker, they would happily throw every one of us to the dogs.”

After the presentation, the students engaged in a discussion on the historical and present struggles which are faced by the trans community in the United States. One student in attendance spoke extensively to the gathered students on the problem of transmisogyny, the gender oppression faced by transfemme people both within and outside the trans community.

“Many trans men and non-binary people view their experiences as AFAB [assigned female at birth]/female and use their perceived female and girlhood pasts and previous experiences to separate themselves from trans women. This reliance on AGAB language often results in transmisogyny as trans women are frequently perceived as AMAB [assigned male at birth]/male, and their experience as women/girls/females is often dismissed, sidelined, and demonized due to their perceived male upbringing,” said S’Niyah Tate.

The discussion was vibrant and educational, giving students a space to gather and discuss queer and trans issues during a time when the university administration is increasingly unwilling to provide any space. The administration at GVSU appears much more inclined to appeal to the Trump administration than to stand up for its LGBTQ students. Students continue to organize themselves for the progressive changes which they want to see, on and off campus.

#AllendaleMI #MI #LGBTQ #StudentMovement #GVSPSU

Allendale, MI – The Sultry Xi Nu chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority organized a vigil on the evening of Monday, September 22, at Grand Valley State University to honor the life of Demartravion “Trey” Reed, a young Black man who was found deceased on the campus of Delta State University in Mississippi last Monday. The rally was organized in partnership with the GVSU Pan-Hellenic Council and the Progressive Student Union.

Approximately 150 students came together holding signs and candles, forming a large circle beneath the GVSU Allendale campus clock tower. Through the course of the vigil, students stood before the crowd and gave their thoughts, positive and negative, on the position of the Black student community at GVSU and the country at large.

Many students commented on the power of the people on display at the vigil, and the unity present between white and Black students. Others spoke on how they felt endangered by the recent increase in white supremacist hate speech and violence around the country. One Black student walked up to the front of crowd, and declared that Trey Reed had not died by suicide, but was lynched.

Julia Haynes, the Sultry Xi Nu chapter president and community service coordinator, commented on the vigil, “The vigil for Trey Reed was about more than mourning to me, it was about community. People came together and shared their stories, whether painful or uplifting, and in doing so, we honored Trey’s life.”

Haynes continued, “The vigil created a space of support, reflection and solidarity, reminding us of the power of standing together in moments of grief and injustice.”

There was a wide variety of student organizations at the vigil. Representatives of many Black fraternities and sororities spoke, as well as members of various Black cultural and community service organizations. There were also comments of solidarity by members of the Progressive Student Union and the GVSU Skateboarding Club. Unity of the Black student community and broad unity of the multinational student body were prevalent themes.

The racist and reactionary rhetoric of people like President Donald Trump has given rise to more threats against Black people in the United States. Many historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) throughout the Black Belt South have faced threats of violence in recent weeks.

To the students at GVSU, the death of Trey Reed is a tragic part of that recent rise in racism and violence, but the unity of the Black student body and the solidarity of GVSU students at large shows that the true power to challenge these attacks remains in the hands of the people.

#AllendaleMI #MI #InJusticeSystem #StudentMovement #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #PSU

Allendale, MI – The Progressive Student Union at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) led a march on Monday, September 22, demanding that the GVSU board of trustees pass a sanctuary campus policy to protect international and immigrant students from deportations.

GVSU has a large population of international students. In April, four international students had their visas revoked by the federal government, before being reinstated in August.

The two demands of the sanctuary campus campaign include a formal policy that prohibits any university facilities, resources, property, personnel, information or funds to be used to assist federal immigration enforcement, as well as a specific ban on any cooperation between the Grand Valley Police Department and federal immigration agencies.

“If GVSU holds to a policy that they won’t help ICE in any way, including no help from the police, that means ICE would be totally isolated if they tried to come on campus and abduct a student. At that point it gives the students the power to organize and fight back to force ICE off campus,” said Micah Colby, an organizer with the Progressive Student Union

On Monday, students rallied in front of the GVSU administrative building, Zumberge Hall, to carry forward these demands. Activists from the Progressive Student Union and the Grand Rapids District of Freedom Road Socialist Organization gave speeches to a crowd of students. As students walked by the rally commuting between their classes, rally organizers distributed flyers about the sanctuary campus campaign.

Progressive Student Union organizer Tabby Dawson spoke at the rally, stating, “We choose to be on the right side of history, and not standing on the sidelines, not watching our friends and neighbors be kidnapped by masked vigilantes. We will not allow GVSU nor GVPD to condone this behavior, and we will not stop until GVSU makes a concrete policy to make this a sanctuary school.”

#AllendaleMI #MI #ImmigrantRights #StudentMovement #SDS

Allendale, MI – On January 29, Grand Valley State University's Progressive Student Union (PSU) led a speak-out against the new Trump administration. People held signs relating to healthcare, immigration, LGBTQ rights and other causes. The mood was casual, and people joined the students in protest throughout the event.

PSU organizer Owen Frassetto said, “Trump and his administration are now waging attacks against all sorts of people in this country. We need to unite the organizations of these different groups to stand together against attacks on immigrants, on trans people, on public education, and so much more. Our work is cut out for us, but people are ready to stand together and act.”

Another organizer, Elisa Skinner, said, “If you think the direction the country is heading in is the best it can be, I invite you to take a look around and stand in someone else's shoes. We have families being ripped apart, laws and standards violated, and billionaires such as Elon Musk giving Nazi salutes and attending far-right rallies.”

Donald Trump's election has brought with it uncertainty in regard to civil rights and the future of oppressed people. As anew student organization, PSU is trying to unite all forces that can be united against Donald Trump on Grand Valley's campus.

The Progressive Student Union holds weekly meetings which are announced on their Instagram, @psugvsu

#AllendaleMI #GVSU #PSU #PSUGVSU #Trump #LGBTQ #LGBTQrights #Healthcare #Immigration

Allendale, MI – Pro-Palestine groups demonstrated the campus of Grand Valley State University on Friday, January 19.

About 50 students and community members gathered around GVSU’s Cook Carillon Clocktower for the “All Out for Palestine'' rally. Undeterred by cold and snowy weather, demonstrators stood in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and condemned the United States’ strikes on Yemen.

Before the rally, a sign-making event was organized by students in GVSU’s Calder Arts Center. Attendees of the rally grasped the signs they had made, waved Palestinian flags and held banner reading “Free free Palestine” and “No war on Yemen, victory to Palestine!”

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), in collaboration with GVSU’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Ferris State SDS and Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, organized the rally.

Members of the campus community were drawn towards the clocktower after hearing chants such as “Money for schools, not for war; U.S. out of Yemeni shores” and “Palestine is our demand, no peace on stolen land.” Many students on their way to classes expressed solidarity by raising their fists and vocalizing their support of the effort.

“Even as I speak, children and families are being systematically wiped out by weapons paid for by the Michigan government; Yemen is being bombed by U.S. and British forces,” stated a member of Grand Valley’s SJP. “The U.S. war machine holds no sympathy for those who are suffering.”

A series of short speeches by members of GVSU SDS and SJP called upon the Grand Valley President Philomena Mantella and GVSU faculty to agree to a statement that recognizes the liberation and self-determination of the Palestinian people. In October 2023, Mantella turned a blind eye towards genocide by releasing a statement that condemned the Palestinian resistance.

“We call upon GVSU, President Mantella, our faculty, Michigan as a whole and the world to support the Gazan people in whatever way we can and to free Palestine now,” said Grand Valley’s SDS president.

Demonstrators then weaved their way throughout campus, passing administration offices, dorm buildings and GVSU’s Starbucks location. While students marched, people driving through campus honked their car horns in a display of support. Students again took turns chanting, denouncing the U.S. war machine and expressing solidarity with oppressed peoples across the globe.

#AllendaleMI #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #SJP