Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Student Movement

By Freedom Road Socialist Organization

The world is watching as Americans vote to defeat Trump and the Republican agenda of racism, discrimination and oppression. Of course, the system already cheated the American people back in 2016. Trump lost the popular vote but was declared U.S. president by the elitist Electoral College system. Now Donald Trump threatens to be at it again, trying to lie, cheat and steal his way back into the White House.

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By staff

Tampa students fight budget cuts despite repression from administration.

Tampa, FL – Students at the University of South Florida (USF) and concerned members of the Tampa community gathered at the entrance of the university, October 28, for a rally against recently implemented and proposed budget cuts. This rally, hosted by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), aimed to ensure that the school did not make any more cuts that would affect students and workers, and instead wanted USF to take cuts from the budget of the USF Police Department and highly-paid administrators.

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By Chrisley Carpio

Tampa, FL – On October 9, student and youth activists held a webinar to launch a national campaign to fight for police accountability, on and off campus, under the headline, “Students and Youth Demand Police Accountability.” The main organizations represented were New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), AnakBayan USA, and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

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By Eithne Silva

Tampa students protest budget cuts.

Tampa, FL – On October 5, members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) gathered near the University of South Florida (USF) to protest the university’s recent budget cuts. University administration recently announced budget cuts amounting to $36.7 million, with instruction taking the bulk of the cuts and various student services comprising the rest.

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By staff

Denver, CO – On the evening of September 28, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led a rally of students and community members on Auraria campus in Denver. The rally demanded that the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) defund and disarm the Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD).

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By staff

Enter a descriptive sentence about the photo here.

Tampa, FL – On September 2, students at the University of South Florida (USF) and concerned members of the Tampa community gathered at the house of Steve Currall, the current president of the USF, for a car protest demanding an increase in hiring Black faculty, specifically, professors and counselors. The protest was hosted by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

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By staff

Victor Garcia of Parkside SDS in Kenosha speaks after spending 24 hours in polic

Kenosha, WI – In a gesture of solidarity, several Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapters, including Milwaukee and Minneapolis, met with Parkside SDS students to rally in protest of President Trump's visit to Kenosha on September 1. Trump, in a controversial decision, decided to assess the damage to various areas of the city in relation to civil unrest over several days.

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By Eithne Silva

graphic: Black community 24.19% of Tampa; only 9% USF student body

Tampa Bay SDS wins major victory in their Increase Black Enrollment campaign

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By Mark Napieralski

Arlington, TX – July 10, marked the culmination of the Progressive Student Union’s call-in campaigns, email-ins, and callouts against Teik C. Lim’s administration for not doing enough for Black students at the University of Texas-Arlington. Through both private email and public statements, UTA had conceded to several demands made by PSU in regards to doing specific actions to make “Black lives matter” truly mean something at UTA as opposed to simply being a simple statement made by the administration at the height of the movement calling for justice for George Floyd.

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By Rory Donovan

Milwaukee students honor the memory of Vanessa Guillén.

Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of July 8, students and community members rallied at Spaights Plaza on UW-Milwaukee’s campus. They came together to honor Texas’ Vanessa Guillén and others who have lost their lives to sexual violence, and to hold Professor Betsy Schoeller accountable for her harmful comments about the situation, and the administration of UW-Milwaukee accountable for not taking action on hate speech.

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By staff

Pittsburgh, PA – Members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee at the University of Pittsburgh (GSOC-USW) issued a statement, July 8, expressing solidarity with international students and denouncing the Trump administration’s recent modifications of existing ICE Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) rules.

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By staff

Pittsburgh, PA – Members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee at the University of Pittsburgh (GSOC-USW) issued a statement, July 8, expressing solidarity with international students and denouncing the Trump administration’s recent modifications of existing ICE Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) rules.

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By Rick Majumdar

Arlington, TX – As an international student, I am frankly disillusioned at the silence of the University of Texas Arlington (UTA) administration as they failed to address the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) plan for the deportation of international students if they enroll in an online classes in the upcoming fall semester. As of yet no email has arrived from the acting provost's office to either calm international students or provide them with any sort of protections to assure their safety against these federal mandates.

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By Eithne Silva

Tampa students demand increase in Black enrollment, Black faculty

Tampa, FL – On July 2, students gathered at the gates of the on-campus residence for the president of the University of South Florida (USF) to demand that the university take measures to increase Black enrollment. Over the past 10 years, the percentage of Black students at the university has been on a steady decline, from a high of 12% a decade ago to the most recent report of 10%. But even the highest percentage is much lower than the demographics of the Tampa Bay area, in which Black people comprise nearly a quarter of the population.

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By Zachary Schultz

Students demand removal of the statue of slaveholder Francis Eppes.

Tallahassee, FL – On July 4, over 70 students protested in front of the Westcott administration building at Florida State University to demand the removal of the statue of Francis Eppes, a large Leon County slave-owner who had funded the Confederacy. The protest was called by Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), who also issued demands for the removal of Eppes from the criminology building and segregationist Doak Campbell from the stadium.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – A proposal to amend faculty senate bylaws and create a new Campus Safety Committee failed to garner enough votes to pass during a June 29 University Senate meeting, open only to voting members. The proposed committee would “advise and consult with the President, the responsible senior administrators, and the Vice President for University Services on policies and major decisions relating to campus and public safety at the University,” and would be made up of faculty, academic professional members, students, civil service members, and ex officio representatives.

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By Coalition to March on the RNC

2008 march in St Paul, MN organized by the Coalition to March on the RNC.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call from the Coalition to March on the RNC.

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By staff

Vigil to honor the life of murdered Tallahassee activist Oluwatoyin Salau.

Tampa, FL – On June 20, Tampa Bay community members gathered at the Joe Chillura Courthouse Square to honor the life of Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau, who was sexually assaulted, abducted and murdered. Salau was a known Black Lives Matter activist in Tallahassee, Florida. Her death follows a recent wave of violence against, and murder of, Black people in the United States committed by the police, white vigilantes and others.

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By staff

Protest against police crimes in Arlington, TX.

Arlington, TX – The Progressive Student Union (PSU) rallied 30 students and community members, June 18, demanding community control and defunding of the Arlington Police Department. “We need to remember why we are doing this,” said Arlington resident Adara Arrie. “This is not something to post on social media for a trend. Change has not happened,”

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By staff

Coalition to March on the RNC demands permits for August 27 rally

2016 march on the Repblican National Convention in Cleveland, OH.

Jacksonville, FL – The Coalition to March on the RNC applied for permits from the city of Jacksonville, June 17, to hold a rally and march opposed to Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention.

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