News and Views from the People's Struggle
Chicago, IL- On Friday, October 3, around 65 students gathered on campus outside of University Hall at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) to attend an emergency protest led by New Students for Democratic Society at UIC (New SDS at UIC), to oppose the attacks against immigrant and oppressed nationality communities.
Chicago, IL – On October 2, 60 protesters disrupted Union Station to take a militant stand against the U.S./Israeli genocide of Palestinians. Momentum was high after the illegal kidnappings of 497 activists of the Global Sumud Freedom Flotilla from 44 countries. This is the first time since 2009 that a boat has made it into Palestinian waters and broken Israel’s siege of Gaza.
The emergency action was led by Students for Justice in Palestine-Chicago (SJP Chicago) and successfully disrupted traffic as well as people trying to leave and enter the Amtrak station.
Baton Rouge, LA – On October 1, Louisiana State University Students for a Democratic Society (LSU SDS) gathered to protest the LSU presidential search committee. Students rallied outside the LSU Foundation Building and then gave public comments at the committee meeting inside.
The students were attending the presidential search committee meeting to protest the undemocratic nature of the process and the overbearing influence Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry holds over LSU.
Austin, TX – On October 2, about 25 students gathered on UT’s South Lawn for a vigil in commemoration of the families who have been torn apart by ICE in Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The vigil was organized by the Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in order to stand in solidarity with the 200,000-plus people who have been deported since Trump was inaugurated in January of this year.
Allendale, MI – The Progressive Student Union at Grand Valley State University held a teach-in event on Queer and Trans liberation on Monday, September 29. Despite attempts by the GVSU administration and the Office of Student Life to prevent the students from gathering by demanding $380 out of the students to use a room on campus, the PSU successfully held the event in the Arboretum outdoor park space on campus without disruption.
Tallahassee, FL – Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, the state’s only public HBCU, has expelled a prominent student organizer and community leader for protesting the university’s new MAGA-backed president.
Elijah Hooks, a political science student on the cusp of graduation, organized a rally on May 14 to oppose the appointment of Marva Johnson as FAMU’s next president. Johnson is an ally of far-right Governor Ron DeSantis with no experience in higher education.
Allendale, MI – The Sultry Xi Nu chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority organized a vigil on the evening of Monday, September 22, at Grand Valley State University to honor the life of Demartravion “Trey” Reed, a young Black man who was found deceased on the campus of Delta State University in Mississippi last Monday. The rally was organized in partnership with the GVSU Pan-Hellenic Council and the Progressive Student Union.
Allendale, MI – The Progressive Student Union at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) led a march on Monday, September 22, demanding that the GVSU board of trustees pass a sanctuary campus policy to protect international and immigrant students from deportations.
GVSU has a large population of international students. In April, four international students had their visas revoked by the federal government, before being reinstated in August.
Madison, WI – As part of a Global Weekend of Action called by the BDS Movement, a contingent of about 40 peace activists led by World Beyond War-UW, including the newly formed Students for a Democratic Society-UW Madison chapter, community members and religious organizations, followed by Madison Area DSA, made the cause of Palestine impossible to ignore at the city's 48th annual Willy Street Fair, September 21.
As is tradition for the second day of the festival, a parade kicked off from the 900 block of Williamson Street, set to march about six blocks through the historic Williamson-Marquette neighborhood. Front and center, behind the sponsors, the beloved “Bubblemobile” coughed large clumps of bubbles into the air and immediately the chanting began.
In a typically light-hearted and proudly “weird” environment like the Willy Street Fair, chants of “From the river to the sea,” and “Stand up, fight back” echoed between the homes and small businesses. Ensuring that no fair-goer forget that while their funnel cakes fry, children are dying in Palestine. Not only from starvation, but from weapons provided by the U.S. government.
Later in the day, as part of the same BDS Movement call to action, World Beyond War-UW led a significantly longer walk, with 20 or so people carrying signs and banners around the entirety of Lake Monona, a 12-mile journey, to continue bringing attention to American complicity in Israel's crimes.
#MadisonWI #WI #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #BDS #StudentMovement #SDS
San José, CA – On Wednesday, September 17, San Jose State University students gathered outside an ongoing career fair for STEM undergraduate students, for a noon protest against SJSU’s ties with Lockheed Martin.
Chicago, IL – On Saturday, September 13, 60 students and youth from across Chicago met at Chicago Teachers Union Hall for the Progressive Student Conference. This conference brought together young Chicago activists to discuss their strategies for fighting the reactionary Trump agenda.
San Jose, CA – On August 28, about 30 students gathered in front of the historic Smith and Carlos Statues at San Jose State University students for a “disorientation tour.” On the disorientation tour, new students were able to hear from experienced campus organizers about the university administration's complicity in the genocide against Palestine and inaction under the Trump presidency.
San Jose, CA – On September 10, San Jose Students for a Democratic Society alongside various other SJSU students held a silent protest outside a career fair where Lockheed Martin, notorious weapons manufacturer and supporter of the Gaza genocide, had a table.
New York, NY – On September 10, NYU students joined a rally led by the NYU Students for a Democratic Society, with the endorsement of over a dozen university organizations, to demand that NYU end its compliance with the Trump administration’s attacks.
Comisión Estudiantil de la OSCL
Ya comenzaron las clases: para muchos, el semestre de otoño de 2025 ha comenzado. Los estudiantes están regresando a una situación cargada de tensiones. Trump ha hecho su mejor esfuerzo para degradar la educación pública. Su objetivo es eliminar a su competencia política, que obtiene mucho apoyo de las fuerzas en los campus universitarios. Lo que él presenta como una alternativa a la educación no es ningún tipo de alternativa: escuelas con fines de lucro que enseñan las mentiras de la plataforma “Haz América Grande Otra Vez” (MAGA, por sus siglas en inglés), que son propiedad de sus socios y demasiado caras para que la mayoría pueda asistir.
Trump y su Secretaria de Educación, Linda McMahon, han desatado una infinidad de ataques contra la educación. Están presionando a las universidades para que recorten los estudios étnicos, los centros culturales, los programas académicos y los empleos, para borrar la historia de la opresión de los currículos, para expulsar a los jóvenes de la clase trabajadora y para poner fin a las protestas estudiantiles. Mientras tanto, quieren utilizar las universidades para continuar realizando investigaciones para las guerras, intervenciones, ocupaciones y genocidios respaldados por EE. UU. que amenazan a pueblos de todo el mundo. Al igual que ICE, el Departamento de Defensa recibió enormes aumentos de presupuesto.
Austin, TX – On Thursday, September 4, around 70 students gathered outside the UT Tower to protest Trump’s bigoted and reactionary agenda. The protest was organized by Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as a part of a National Day of Action.
“We’re out here to demand protection for immigrants here at UT and in Texas, and also in acknowledgement that Trump wants to turn the whole country into Texas,” SDS member Daniel Ramirez said, in reference to Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and multicultural programs. “We can’t stand alone in this fight, and we’re proud to kick off this semester standing in solidarity with students all over the country in the fight against Trump.”
Orlando, FL – On Thursday, September 4, around 60 students at the University of Central Florida rallied and marched to demand the reversal of their university’s 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as the establishment of a sanctuary campus.
The rally was led by UCF Students For A Democratic Society (SDS), who were joined by the UCF Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), and UCF Students For Education in Prison (SFEP), and others.
Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, September 3, students gathered at the Maryland Street Bridge on the UWM campus, demanding an end to the Trump administration’s attacks on students, DEI initiatives and educational funding. The event was part of an SDS national day of action.
Led by members of the UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (UWM SDS), the banner drop was a response to the ongoing cuts to education, cuts to multicultural and inclusivity programs, and constant student repression by the UWM administration.
As students were about to unfurl the banner around noon, they were confronted by a known administrative agitator part of the Dean of Students Office. Despite her insistence that the students and SDS members were breaking so-called “campus free speech regulations,” the students stood their ground against the intimidation.
SDS chair Chris Van Valkenberg demanded to see what rules they were actually breaking, stating that “unless you can prove we broke any rules, we will continue with the banner drop whether you like it or not.” While debating with the administrator about the legality of the banner drop, students discovered many of these campus freedom of speech policies were added recently by the university administration without notifying the student body. After the brief stand-off, the official could not find any rules that the students were breaking and retreated, and the banner drop continued successfully.
UWM SDS has been fighting consistent attacks on and harassment of its members by the university administration. Students pushing for university acknowledgement of the genocide in Palestine, and who are calling to fix the imbalance of power the university holds over its students, have been suspended, banned from campus, put on disciplinary probation, stalked by administrative officials, and harassed daily by those same officials.
As the Trump administration’s attacks on students continue to grow, students have felt the pressure of this through a losses of educational funding, satellite campuses, research funds, DEI programs, and overall student safety. These losses, combined with an increase in campus police presence and intimidation, strict campus free speech laws targeting student activism, and purposefully deregistering and suspending any detracting student organizations, are a call to action for all students on UWM’s campus to call for its administration to end its complicity with Trump’s anti-education and anti-student policies.
Tampa, FL – On Tuesday September 2, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society held a protest on 50th and Fowler Avenue against Trump and his policies as part of the National Day of Action called by National Students for a Democratic Society. The event had slogans such as “No deportations,” “Protect cultural groups” and “Stop Trump’s agenda.”
Students spoke up against Trump’s attacks on the student body and education, as they chanted to passing cars and passersby. Standing opposite the University of South Florida, they spoke on how the University is enabling Trump’s attacks, as they are willingly tying USFPD with ICE through the 278(g) program. This program allows USF police to profile and detain international students and immigrants the same as an ICE officer would.
International student and SDS member Joseph Charry said: “Many students have already had their visa revoked by the university, and we’re gonna continue to see these deportations from the university, guided by Trump, unless we stand up and fight back!”
Other topics included the shutdown of cultural programs and clubs because of a 50% funding cut by the university’s administration, due to Governor DeSantis and Trump’s agenda to remove diversity, equity and inclusion from education.
SDS Member Dhanvi Patel spoke about it saying: “We demand funding for our cultural groups, increased enrollment and scholarships for Black students, and protect and expand ethnic studies departments. We demand a sanctuary campus now!”
The message clearly resonated with students passing by, as cars honked in support and a group of students stopped by to give the protesters popsicles and water to help against the heat.
Fight Back! News is circulating the following statement from the New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois Chicago (New SDS at UIC).
We are calling on students and youth from the Chicagoland area to attend the Progressive Student Conference on Saturday, September 13th from 12pm-4pm at the Chicago Teachers Union Hall (1901 W Carroll Ave).
The conference will bring together student and youth groups from various areas of the movement to talk about lessons and ongoing struggles under the reactionary Trump administration. From Black liberation, Palestine/Filipino solidarity, fights to defend and fund education and cultural centers/studies, labor on campus, and much more!
Since it has taken power, the Trump administration has brought down heavy attacks on the people of Chicago. It has continued to greenlight the genocide in Gaza, find ways to conduct mass deportation in sanctuary cities, and committed to “strengthening and unleashing” police against black communities. Chicago politicians and followers of Trump’s agenda have tried to overturn Chicago’s welcoming city ordinance, restrict free speech on campus, and continue to criminalize black youth with racist curfews.
The attacks on the people of Chicago are heightening. Trump has promised the deployment of the National Guard, and increased ICE raids in the city.
Trump’s particular hatred for Chicago is a reaction to the progress that has been made over the past decades. But in Chicago these things were not charitably brought down to us. It came about through people getting organized, demanding, and fighting back. This same strategy will be used to defend what we have won, and fight back against the Trump agenda!
Students and youth play an important role in fighting back. Our education, our democratic rights, and our futures are under attack. An occupation of the city is on its way.
As society becomes more and more hostile, our action is powerful and necessary to building a better future!
Register for the conference here.
Come out to the Progressive Student Conference!
Build the student movement against Trump!