‘Hands Off Our Universities’ Protesters Rally Against Threats From Trump govt
Demonstrators march against funding cuts at universities and the arrests of foreign students.
Protests were held across the country Thursday to oppose what students and professors say are the Trump administration’s threats to academic freedoms.
In New York City, hundreds of protesters marched more than a mile from Washington Square Park to the New York Supreme Court House holding signs that said “Resist Hate!” and “Hands Off Our Universities.”
Protesters said they were responding to recent funding cuts at universities, and the pressure from the Trump administration to arrest and silence pro-Palestinian protesters.
Youngmin Seo, a lecturer at LaGuardia Community College in New York, said he came out to protest for his students and his two children.
“Without free thinking and ideas,” said the 63-year-old, “we don’t have a future.”
The White House didn’t return a request for comment.
Earlier in the day, protests were held at Yale University, and more were scheduled at about 150 campuses across the country. The protests were organized by the Coalition for Action in Higher Education and the American Association of University Professors.
The date of the protests, April 17, coincides with the anniversary of the first pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University, sparked protests on campuses across the country.
In recent months, the Trump administration has targeted schools for what it says are the universities’ failures to protect Jewish students. It has paused or canceled funding at Columbia, Harvard and other universities.
Columbia has made changes demanded by the Trump administration in order to restore $400 million in funding, including banning masks, giving campus police power to arrest students and appoint a senior vice provost with broad authority to oversee the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies as well as the Center for Palestine Studies.
Harvard, meanwhile, declined a variety of demands from the administration.
Jen Gaboury, a vice president of the union that represents teachers at the City University of New York, said the protest Thursday was the first step in colleges standing together to stand up to the administration.
“We have to make sure that what Columbia has been doing is not something the rest of us do,” said Gaboury, who is also a lecturer at Hunter College in New York.
The administration has been escalating its crackdown on international students, which began with arrests of several students who participated in pro-Palestine protests, including Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil. It has also revoked the visas of international students, without giving reasons why.
Edison Routh, a history student at Hunter, said he was protesting the arrest and deportation of students who were part of pro-Palestinian protests.
“It’s disgusting and repulsive,” the 22-year-old said of the arrests.
Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com
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