SU students, faculty protest Trump policies at campus ‘Hands Off!’ protest
Demonstrators condemned attacks at the "Hands Off!" protest Thursday on academic freedom, including recent decisions to revoke student visas without cause. Hundreds of SU students and faculty were among the demonstrators. Avery Magee | Asst. Photo Editor
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Larry Battles kept the signs from protests he attended during the 2016 election in his garage for years. On Friday afternoon, he brought them out again for the “Hands Off!” rally at Syracuse University.
“The signs I brought today are the same ones I used during the 2016 election,” Battles, a New York resident and member of Indivisible, said. “Little did I know I’d still be using them.”
Wearing an upside-down American flag around his neck to symbolize the country’s distress, Battles joined hundreds of students, faculty and local residents to rally against President Donald Trump’s administration. The protest condemned Trump’s attacks on democracy, education, healthcare and immigration rights.
SU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors organized the protest, which also demanded protection for academic freedoms, immigration access and reproductive rights. The recent revocations of three SU students’ visas without prior warning also motivated the protest, speakers said.
Harvey Teres, an adjunct humanities professor and AAUP member at SU, said the protest reflected shared concerns among faculty and students and admired the campus’s unity. He expressed his disappointment toward the White House, calling this an “unprecedented time” in American history.
“We didn’t know how many students would show up, but the word got out and we had a terrific turnout,” Teres said. “It’s a great start, and it’s only a start. This movement is just beginning.”
Protestors held signs reading “F-ELON” and “Stand up or Bow down” as they listened to speeches from professors and students who pushed for administrative change at SU. Chancellor Kent Svyerud did not join over 450 university officials in signing a Tuesday open letter condemning Trump’s actions in higher education.
Avery Magee | Asst. Photo Editor
Protestors held signs reading “F-ELON” and “Stand up or Bow down” as they listened to speeches from professors and students who pushed for administrative change at SU.
Tom Keck, an adjunct political science professor, said the protest’s turnout was evidence of the widespread concern among universities, noting that even those who typically avoid political rallies are now becoming vocal.
Keck said the phrase “Hands Off!” served as the protest’s central theme in reference to the concerns over democracy, reproductive rights and higher education policies. He said these aren’t isolated fights — they’re all part of the same struggle.
“We’re seeing detention and deportation of international students, revocation of student visas without due process,” Keck said. “This was a group of faculty, staff and students coming together to say ‘Hands Off’ our university.”
Mara Sapon-Shevin, a professor emeritus in SU’s School of Education, also said the concerns presented at the protest were deeply interconnected. She described the protest as an opportunity to inform and energize the community.
Shevin pointed to young people as the core of the protest, calling them “agents of change.”
SU students like Gigi Fronczak shared faculty members’ sense of urgency. Fronczak said she questioned whether Trump’s actions align with democratic values. Abortion rights were her primary reason for attending the protest, she said, as the possibility of losing access to reproductive healthcare is scary.
Ella Chan | Asst. Photo Editor
SU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors organized the protest, which also demanded protection for academic freedoms, immigration access and reproductive rights.
The protest also drew attention from the broader Syracuse community. Breanna R., who chose not to share her full last name for privacy reasons, said she didn’t know much about the protest before arriving on campus but felt a call to join. She said she was proud of the community’s turnout and emphasized the importance of young people supporting one another.
“I’m proud that young people are standing up and saying what they feel needs to be said, I’m proud that people are willing to go help another person,” Breanna said. “We’re supposed to care about our neighbors, and these people are showing that. It’s incredible.”
Kendall Phillips, director of the Lender Center for Social Justice at SU, stressed the importance of protecting academic freedoms and university values. He expressed concern over restrictions on what professors are allowed to teach, which he said undermines the essence of education.
Phillips said policy changes under the current administration have denied some students access to federal opportunities in the public sector. He also said it’s concerning for students looking for research opportunities and for all universities moving forward.
On April 15, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered its staff to cancel grants awarded to higher education institutions, the New York Times reported. The EPA has canceled $1.5 billion in environmental justice grants since Trump took office. The administration has pulled at least $6 billion in grants and contracts for scientific research across universities, according to Nature magazine.
Shevin said following a semester of hard work, people will continue to fight for what is right.
“They cannot take the universities down if we’re all working together, in the same way that they can when they pick them off one at a time,” Sapon-Shevin said.
