New York, NY – On February 27, the New York University Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally and picket outside the NYU Kimmel center to demand that the university senate refuse to comply with Donald Trump’s executive orders, and to commit to protecting its students from any attacks that may come in the future. 

Approximately 50 students marched outside the front entrance to the Kimmel center, where the U senate was meeting, and chanted “No compliance! With Trump’s violence!” and “When students are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!”

“NYU might promise to ‘comply with the law,’ but we will not comply with anyone, NYU-affiliated or otherwise, who seeks to threaten our rights, safety, or solidarity,” said an NYU student and speaker at the event. 

In the four weeks since Trump’s inauguration, he has enacted executive orders threatening the funding of institutions that welcome and protect trans, Black, brown, and immigrant students. Already, NYU has demonstrated a dangerous willingness to comply with these policies, preemptively canceling lifesaving gender affirming care at its institutional hospital and committing to “follow the law” when asked about allowing ICE on campus. 

The university administration has also attacked its students' rights to speech and protest, having suspended 13 activists and placed over 20 students on probation at the end of the winter term. This willingness to bend the knee to dangerous and discriminatory federal actions presents an ongoing threat to the safety of NYU’s student community.

NYU SDS commits to continued action to protect and serve our community. To quote the ending speech of the rally, “If the NYU administration refuses to defend its students against the Trump regime, we will defend ourselves.”

#NewYorkCityNY #NewYorkNY #NYC #ICE #SanctuaryCampus #NYU #SDS #NYUSDS #Trump

New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, February 17, about 30 Tulane students and faculty held a rally on campus to protest Trump’s agenda. They particularly focused on fighting back against Trump’s ethnic cleansing plans for Gaza, and demanded that Tulane become a sanctuary campus immigrant students. 

Students and faculty gathered in Pocket Park, with signs reading, “Make Tulane a sanctuary campus” and “Gaza is not for sale!” They chanted, “Immigrants are here to stay, Donald Trump go away!” and “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Tulane students organized the rally in response to ICE activity in the New Orleans area. The fear of ICE raids has led to a drastic decrease in school attendance by Chicano and Latino students in Orleans Parish and surrounding areas. Sandy Thomas, a first-generation Latina student at Tulane, stated, “Trump wants to send 30,000 immigrants to Guantanamo Bay, a detention camp. We may scream as much as we want for change, but change does not happen without action.” 

The rally also defended the ceasefire in Gaza, after Trump’s remarks threatening to ethnically cleanse the strip. Millicent Helmka, a member of Together United Students for a Democratic Society (TU SDS), condemned Trump’s plans to expand military operations in Palestine and displace 2 million Palestinians from their homeland, stating, “The U.S. government uses your cash to build dystopian and monstrous war technology. And those machines get used on people on the other side of the planet, who had dreams, like you.”

As students and faculty continue to push for a free Palestine and sanctuary campus policies, they emphasized that their awareness and outrage must translate into fighting back.

#NewOrleansLA #TUSDS #SDS #Tulane #ICE #Guantanamo #FreePalestine #Sanctuary #SanctuaryCampus

Oshkosh, WI – On Feb. 24, a group of over 40 people gathered at the Opera House Square in downtown Oshkosh for a demonstration and march in support of DACA and immigrants who are under constant attack by the reactionary policies of the federal government.

The event, organized by United Action Oshkosh, served as an opportunity to promote a message of solidarity to the immigrant community within the city and the surrounding area, as well as to announce UAO's initial campaign to get Oshkosh to become a sanctuary city. This entails non-cooperation by the local administration and law enforcement with federal immigration agencies like ICE. ICE policies dismantle families and spread terror among oppressed communities.

The conclusion of the event came after a brief march from the square to the Winnebago County Courthouse. During the march, UAO organizers led chants such as, “From Palestine to Mexico, all these walls have got to go,” “No ban, no wall, sanctuary for all,” “Donald Trump, let's be clear, immigrants are welcome here.”

Participants gathered around the front steps of the courthouse to listen to speeches and comments from those who had something to say.

A representative from the Student Organization of Latinos at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh gave a brief statement of solidarity with everyone there and with the organizers in UAO for hosting the event.

UAO standing committee member Ryan Hamann gave a brief speech on the purpose of the rally and march, attacked the politicians in Washington for their stance on DACA and immigrants in general, and closed with the announcement of UAO's demand that Oshkosh become a sanctuary city. The campaign announcement was met with cheers and applause from the crowd.

UAO is set to host another demonstration in response to the Trump regime's decision on DACA on March 5.

#OshkoshWI #sanctuaryCampus #UnitedActionOshkosh

SDS activist Will Blake spoke on why people leave their homelands. “In many cases, we are responsible for those immigrating. They are fleeing many of our invasions, they're fleeing our war on drugs, our assassinations, our coup d’etats.”

Tampa Bay SDS’s current campaign is to make USF a sanctuary campus. Tampa Bay SDS is specifically demanding: legal support for undocumented and Muslim students, non-cooperation with ICE and DHS, and a refusal to give out personal information to these government agencies.

Tampa Bay SDS will continue the fight for undocumented and Muslim students on campus and will be hosting another protest March 5; Trump’s deadline for DACA.

#TampaFL #ImmigrantRights #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #sanctuaryCampus

Salt Lake City, UT – One month after delivering demands for a sanctuary campus to the University of Utah administration, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) sat in and shut down their office on March 8.

Anthony Scoma of SDS kicked off the rally in front of the main library with chants of “Education not deportation!” and “No ICE, no KKK, no racist USA!” He spoke out against the two-faced inaction of university administrators.

“We have been assured through emails that the U is a protector of its students,” Scoma said, “but just today the university told us in a meeting that while they like the sentiment of our demands, deportations are going to happen and there isn’t anything they can do about it. That is a lie. Over 30 universities across the country have succeeded in making sanctuary campuses.”

During the rally a lone Trump supporter attempted to heckle students, causing people to chant louder. Next he began grabbing at and verbally harassing students. The Trump supporter then violently attacked a protester, punching them in the face. Unbelievably the cops rushed in and detained the pro-immigrant protester who was punched, cuffing them and placing them in a police vehicle. Police cordially escorted the Trump supporter out of the building.

After gathering more students, the protesters marched into the university administrative offices, sat down, and continued chanting. In response, the administrators frantically called campus security and threatened the protesters with arrest. Calling their bluff, SDS remained and began singing the chorus of Which Side Are You On? and naming individual administrators who had failed to take a stand against Trump’s agenda of mass deportation.

The SDS demands include preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations on campus, a public statement that the campus is a sanctuary, hiring an immigration attorney to protect students, and withholding student information on documentation status and religious affiliation.

While supposedly affirming the values expressed in sanctuary status, according to an email, the administration has refused to meet any of the student demands or discuss the criteria for a sanctuary campus, citing Trump’s threats of funding cuts as a major factor in its decisions.

As the sit-in continued, university officials began handing out sheets listing the rules protesters were breaking. Employees eventually left the offices one by one due to the chanting, drumming and singing. After roughly an hour, the offices were almost empty. After two hours, SDS packed up their signs and decapitated a Trump piñata.

SDS is likely to escalate its campaign for a sanctuary campus until administrators meet the students’ demands.

#SaltLakeCityUT #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #US #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #immigrantRights #Trump #DonaldTrump #sanctuaryCampus

Jacksonville, FL – The University of North Florida (UNF) chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied, marched, and staged a sit in, Feb. 28, to present several demands to the school administration. These demands included turning the campus into a sanctuary campus, banning Trump’s administration from visiting UNF, and pushing for more Black, Latino and other oppressed nationality teachers and students on campus. There was also a call for a $15 living wage for all workers on campus. Over 40 students participated in the event, titled “SDS Strikes Back” in reference to last semester’s huge Black Lives Matter rally that launched SDS and pulled a core of student activists together.

The students began by rallying. Several speakers told the crowd about the importance of fighting for a more just society in which everybody was treated fairly, a fight that SDS has started on campus. There were a few conservative students that tried to disrupt the rally, but they were unable to do so and the protesters mostly ignored them and prevented them from speaking.

The students then rallied behind the banner and chanted “No ban, no wall, sanctuary for all!” and “When immigrant lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” The militant march showed that students are willing to stand up and fight for those that are hit the hardest by the Trump administration, and fight against attacks on immigrants, the Black community, queer people and students.

Students marched to the university president's office to deliver the list of demands, emphasizing the call for a sanctuary campus, and demand a meeting from the president of the university. SDS sat near the president’s office and held a sit-in long enough to see both the university president and the former mayor of Jacksonville carefully step through the crowd of students on their way to the back rooms. SDS promised to return and elevate their campaign if the administration failed to respond correctly.

Summing up the event, Monique Williamson, president of UNF SDS, had this to say: “We held a rally to show UNF that we will stand against hate in any form. All of our groups will not stop fighting until we’ve won our demands. Brown and Black unity forever.”

#JacksonvilleFL #StudentMovement #US #PeoplesStruggles #Florida #Trump #sanctuaryCampus

On Feb. 22, students voted to make Florida State University (FSU) a sanctuary campus by a vote of 67%. The referendum vote was part of the Spring 2017 Student Government Association elections at FSU.

The referendum reads: “We the students of Florida State University believe in maintaining equality of access to higher education for all students. We therefore support the classification of Florida State University as a sanctuary campus for undocumented students. In particular, we want the FSU administration to guarantee that no FSU agencies will release the immigration status of students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or allow ICE to come on campus. We also want the FSU administration to guarantee that undocumented students residing in Florida will continue to receive in-state tuition waivers. Do you agree?”

Katherine Draken, president of the FSU chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, stated, “We are very glad to see our efforts were rewarded tonight, after weeks collecting over 700 petition signatures and campaigning on campus. However, the fight is not over. We need the FSU administration and President John Thrasher to acknowledge our referendum and declare FSU a sanctuary campus.”

Draken continued, “Immigrants on campus are uncertain about their futures and worried about how Trump’s policies will affect them. Declaring our campus a sanctuary is the first step to showing that immigrants are cared for and will be protected here.”

#TallahasseeFL #US #PeoplesStruggles #immigrantRights #Antiracism #DonaldTrump #sanctuaryCampus

Students, led by the group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), will smash a Trump piñata on the steps of Morrill Hall at noon and proceed to the University of Minnesota (UMN) president's office where they will deliver their ultimatum demanding action by the university president by the end of the month. The students' ultimatum letter is modeled on a letter that the University of Utah SDS delivered to their university president demand for a sanctuary campus.

While UMN President Kaler has emailed students, staff and faculty at the university, acknowledging their fear that undocumented students will be targeted by the new Trump administration, he has stopped short of declaring the university a sanctuary campus or taking concrete actions to protect these students. Such actions that have been taken by presidents at other universities.

National Students for a Democratic Society issued a call for actions to be organized in support of making university campuses across the country sanctuary campuses for undocumented students. Like sanctuary cities, sanctuary campuses are universities which pledge non-cooperation and non-compliance with federal efforts to repress, detain and deport undocumented immigrants. At the University of Minnesota and in many places across the country, undocumented students are able to attend the university as students and can in some circumstances pay in-state or resident rates of tuition – this policy is already a recognition that undocumented students should be allowed to attend these colleges and universities and the sanctuary campus designation would further allow undocumented students access to education free of the fear of unexpected detention or deportation based on their immigration status.

SDS at the University of Minnesota is organizing this protest on President's Day, under the slogan Not My President's Day, to draw connections between the sanctuary campus movement at local universities and the broader movement to oppose Trump and his right-wing agenda. UMN SDS has participated in the broad umbrella coalition the Resist From Day One coalition in the Twin Cities, which led large marches a month previous on Inauguration Day.

SDS member Skyler Dorr said, “Our national campaign for 'Education for All' connects student struggles around access to education, from overpriced tuition and student debt to demographic underrepresentation for Black and Brown students on campus to the sexism, racism, anti-queer, and anti-Muslim violence that prevents marginalized students from fully participating in campus life. Right now the struggle is to protect our undocumented brothers, sisters, and nonbinary folk and make our universities sanctuary campuses.”

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PresidentKaler #DonaldTrump #sanctuaryCampus

Minneapolis, MN – “Fire Kaler!” chanted roughly 30 University of Minnesota students led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the Dec. 7 board of regents meeting. Continuing the national SDS campaign of education for all, students demanded that University President Eric Kaler be removed for the incompetency and scandals witnessed under his administration.

Interrupting President Kaler’s initial report for the semester’s board meeting, students stood to vote on an emergency resolution to fire Kaler on the grounds of his incapability to lead the university with accountability to students and staff.

Read collectively, the resolution cited 13 counts of Kaler’s failure as a university president, including doubling tuition while he got a tremendous salary increase, participating in a cover-up of gross misconduct within the medical school by suing the victims’ families, hiring known sexual assaulters to roles of authority, and openly approving of racist actions carried out on campus. Rather than hear out these concerns, Eric Kaler immediately fled the scene with half of the 12 regents.

“Eric Kaler should be removed from office immediately. A new leader should be put in place through a process involving genuine input from the campus community and the new president must be accountable to the university community,” reads the resolution from SDS. Under the current system, the University of Minnesota president is elected by the board of regents, who are in turn appointed by the state legislature. SDS cites this core lack of democratic input by the students, staff and faculty who make the university work for the misguided policies of the Kaler administration.

With an immediate vote, students unanimously voted to fire Kaler and followed their resolution with a mock farewell party. Wearing party hats and throwing streamers to the song Celebration, students were escorted outside by a force of nearly 15 police officers threatening arrest, a much larger police presence than at any other board of regents meeting in recent past.

Students for a Democratic Society continues to build for the removal of President Kaler and are planning a student walkout on Jan. 20, the day of the inauguration of President-electTrump. The Jan. 20 protest will compare Kaler to Trump and will march under the slogan “Not Our Presidents.”

#MinneapolisMN #SDS #PresidentKaler #sanctuaryCampus