On Thurs., April 17 at 4 p.m., students and faculty marched across campus in support of academic freedom and protections for immigrant students as part of the Day of Action for Higher Education.
Faculty, particularly Susan Jarosi, staff and students comprised the Organizing Committee for the National Day of Action. Student groups including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Feminists of Color Collective (FCC), Black and Latinx Student Union (BLSU) and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) were involved in the event alongside Common Ground. The initial plan was to start with a “March for Hamilton’s Core Mission” and to “Reflect and Refuel” outside the Burke Library. However, students took the time outside the library to give speeches on their thoughts, feelings and positions about the political climate at Hamilton College and within the United States, with some directing criticism towards the nature of the event itself.
The Day of Action for Higher Education is a national protest held in colleges and universities across the country to rally against “antidemocratic pressures in all their guises and on all educational levels,” according to The Coalition for Action in Higher Ed.
The organization claims that, “Politicians and right-wing organizations are pushing educational gag orders that prohibit the teaching of subjects, concepts and books in both higher education and K-12 schools. They are rolling back historic advancements in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The majority of jobs in higher education are now low-paying, part-time and precarious, rendering academic freedom and shared governance increasingly hollow. Students bear a crushing debt load that limits their future for decades.”
At Hamilton College, faculty members have already started to lose federal funding for their research. Grants required for programs, such as Fulbright scholarships, have been revoked by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Due to these funding cuts, several protests have occurred across campus to protect faculty access to their grant money.
Another issue addressed by the Day of Action for Higher Education was on campus deportations. Following the executive order, “PROTECTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AGAINST INVASION,” colleges and universities are no longer protected from ICE raids. Since the executive order, ICE raids have been conducted on several college and university campuses, leading to the detainment of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, student protesters at Columbia University and Tufts University respectively. In a prior interview with The Spectator, President Tepper said that, in the case of an ICE raid, “If any law enforcement personnel shows up on campus asking questions they should be directed to Campus Safety.”
Students and faculty began the march gathered outside of KJ, passing out pieces of paper with their demands and chant lists. Despite low attendance at previous protests at Hamilton College, the space outside of KJ was almost entirely filled by protesters.
Speaking through a megaphone at the crowd, the chant leader guided the students into a line as they started the march out along Martin’s Way. To the beat of a drum, protestors cycled through a variety of chants, including, “Say it once, say it twice. We will not put up with ICE,” “Money for jobs and education, not for war and deportations,” and “One struggle, one fight. Queer rights are human rights.”
The march snaked its way across campus, down Martin’s Way towards Light Side, and around the North Loop. After completing their course, protesters found themselves gathered outside the Burke Library, where Common Ground had set up the space for discussion.
“Thank you all for your support in the nationwide events celebrating the Day of Action for Higher Education. Our campus is part of 175 other events happening across the country, from coast to coast…And it’s just nice to know that when people are asked to come out and build community and build coalitions that this is what it looks like. So thank you all for helping us to get a picture of action and support of higher education,” Associate Professor of Art History Susan Jarosi told the crowd on the steps outside the library.
Students had different messages than the faculty who spoke. One of these students said, “Make no mistake, we are living in the beginning of a dictatorship. We have chosen to act today [inaudible], however marginal protests such as this often fall short when they don’t seize the rights that we deserve. The messaging of this protest has been general statements of discontent. Where are our demands of our administration? We must demand that the College act in our interests and safety. We must demand that the College act in direct opposition to the Trump administration.”
Continuing, the student said, “Our administration here at Hamilton College has no policies for dealing with the Trump administration. And by that, I mean that [for] our official policy regarding the Dear Colleagues letter, that seeks to strip the universities of any race based programming and opportunities, President Tepper cited the modality of our actions and made an analogy to a ski party, saying that we have to stick to the center…President Tepper, I ask you, what happens when the law doesn’t matter?…Civility is not going to save us. Doing nothing is not going to protect us.”
Obama’s visit to Hamilton College was brought up when one student said, “The truth is that Trump is here for four more years and possibly more…They’re going to change the law. We will be targeted and even placed in the public eye because President Barack Obama came here and made his first speech since the inauguration condemning Trump and condemning his actions. We are on display. We are on the radar, whether the College acknowledges it or not.”
Some speakers levied criticism against Common Ground and its involvement in the protest. Common Ground recently came into controversy when one speaker, Heather Mac Donald, made comments against affirmative action, as previously reported by The Spectator.
“Look at the food truck. What kind of protest has sponsored food trucks? I invite all of you to consider that. What do we think a protest is? And it’s sponsored by Common Ground, an organization that invites right-wing bigots to campus all the time,…as if people’s rights are up for debate. I’m not here to find common ground. I’m not here to make concessions on people’s humanity or [whether] they’re deserving of human rights,” Derya Arikan ’26 said to cheers from the audience.
Ending her speech, Arikan said, “I hope everyone gets their funding,… the money that is stretched from the blood of those for whom imperialism is a lethal force, a part of daily life, and not an abstract academic concept. Have a nice rest of your day.”
