Fight Back! News Service is circulating the following statement from the Women’s & LGBTQ Work Team of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s LGBTQ and Women’s Work Team strongly condemns the Cornell 7 and the university leadership and police department responsible for protecting the rapists involved since 2024.
This case is just one example of the deeply embedded legal and cultural tools used by universities across the country to protect rapists. While fraternities, reactionaries, racists and bigots are given slaps on the wrist or not held accountable at all, students across the country are facing the threat of expulsion, suspension, or some other form of punishment simply for calling for a Free Palestine or holding a protest on their campus with a megaphone.
Flagstaff, AZ – After their September 4 “ICE out!” protest, members of the Flagstaff chapter of Students for a Democratic Society received identical Code of Conduct charges from Northern Arizona University. The charges meant the students were facing potential suspension or expulsion.
After holding a march, a sit-in, multiple call-ins, posting statements on social media, and sending a cease and desist notice from a lawyer, suspension or expulsion was avoided for all three students, and SDS Flagstaff declared victory over the university on September 28.
Bozeman, MT – On October 30, members of Students for a Democratic Society at Montana State University surrounded the booth of Barnard Construction at MSU’s fall career fair. Students held signs decrying Barnard, a Bozeman-based construction company, for receiving a multi-billion-dollar contract to build the Trump administration's border wall in the Big Bend national park.
One sign read, “Barnard’s border wall construction has high costs to the environment and immigrants, and diminishing returns,” while another read, “Border wall construction has already had destructive impacts on the Big Bend national park.”
Tampa, FL – Students at the University of South Florida held a protest September 29 against the Florida Board of Governors ban on undocumented students attending state-funded schools.
This protest was called by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society after the Florida Board of Governors voted to restrict the admission of non-citizens to the Florida College system; it now requires students to be “lawfully present” in the U.S. The Florida College system consists of 28 schools, including the University of South Florida.
Students at the protest demanded a sanctuary campus to protect immigrant and undocumented students.
SDS member Briana Beebe stated, “DeSantis and the Board of Governors’ recent policy that bans undocumented students from seeking a higher education at public universities in Florida is a huge blow to educational equity. We are here to say to hell with DeSantis and shame on USF for not standing up for undocumented students.”
New Orleans, LA – Hundreds of student activists from across the country will arrive in New Orleans this Saturday and Sunday, October 3 and 4, for the 20th National Convention of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). October 3 will also mark nine months since the United States shamefully invaded and attacked Venezuela, kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP), a partner of the national Anti-War Action Network, has led the local struggle against intervention in Venezuela. The intervention has accomplished nothing but more suffering. In particular, the June 24 earthquakes near the capital city of Caracas killed over 6000 people and injured nearly a quarter million more.
Tallahassee, FL – On September 22, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied at the Integration Statue and then marched to Wescott Fountain to protest the unjust firing of Tally SDS Vice President Mariana Guimaraes from the FSU Victim Advocate Program for her role in SDS’s anti-rape culture campaign and her public advocacy for a survivor.
Guimaraes called out this decision, asking, “When an advocate says publicly, clearly, and with conviction that the systems we have are failing, that we need better for students, and they are terminated without a real reason, what message does that send to survivors?”
Madison, WI – On September 16, the anti-abortion group Missionaries to the Preborn set up on Madison’s Library Mall, harassing students as they passed by. By 2:30 p.m., a group of students gathered in opposition. Bradley Keenan of Madison Students for a Democratic Society led chants with the student body to drown them out. A band had also joined, drowning out the group’s speakers.
New York, NY – On Friday September 24, thousands of protesters took to the streets of New York City as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived to address the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Protesters gathered around the United Nations and throughout Manhattan to oppose Netanyahu’s presence in New York and demand his arrest for crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians.
Bozeman, MT – After months of working on pressuring Montana State University to divest from companies directly tied to the genocide in Gaza, the Students Against Genocide campaign has moved to putting pressure on the city of Bozeman as well, packing a September 22 city commission meeting.
Both the city and university have funded a technology district called the Innovation Campus, which houses tenants that specialize in technology marketed to the U.S. Defense Department. The city of Bozeman entered a contract in 2022 to reimburse the infrastructure costs to the developer of the land. Now, after three buildings have been built, the city must take out bonds to pay back this developer.
Chicago IL – Over 150 students, faculty and community mobilized at the University of Illinois at Chicago Quad on Wednesday, September 23, to protest the UIC administration for inviting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to recruit at the Business Career Fair and to demand that UIC declare itself a sanctuary campus.
The protest, organized by Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) with the support of multiple campus organizations, forced CBP to quietly withdraw from the event.
Tallahassee, FL – On September 17, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society gathered at Landis Fountain to demand an end to “Flock Safety” in the city. Around 30 students gathered holding signs against Flock mass surveillance, and speakers discussed the harmful effects of Flock on our community. Student slogans included “What do we want? Privacy! When do we want it? Now!” and “No justice, no peace! No racist police!”
Fight Back! News is circulating the following statement and call-to-action from National Students for a Democratic Society:
SDS members – Sarah Rogala, Jay Francabandera, community member Claire Wagoner, and one other student – are at threat of suspension, arrest, and job loss at Northern Arizona University due to protests that mobilized hundreds to say no to any ICE presence in Flagstaff, Arizona, as well as to say no to the opening of a new ICE office across NAU.
On Wednesday and Friday, Rogala and Francabandera face conduct hearings. We in SDS call on our supporters to call NAU on Wednesday Sept 23, and to tell them these hearings must end at once.
New York, NY – On September 18, members of the Students for a Democratic Society at NYU held a speakout as part of a national week of action to oppose the “Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act” (HR 4795), which was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. If the bill becomes law, it will strip federal funding from universities that divest from the state of Israel.
Orlando, FL – Despite poor weather, on Wednesday, September 9, 40 University of Central Florida students gathered to march on Millican Hall and demand an end to the school’s 287(g) agreement.
The rally was organized by UCF Students for a Democratic Society, Young Democratic Socialists of America, and Sunrise Movement.
Madison, WI – Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison gathered in Library Mall, September 16, for the first protest for a sanctuary campus of the semester. Madison Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led the protest, joined by the Black Power Coalition (BPC), United Faculty & Academic Staff, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Baton Rouge, LA – On September 14, a coalition of more than seven progressive student organizations at Louisiana State University (LSU) held a press conference to voice sharp opposition to the closing of several cultural centers over summer break. These included the African American Cultural Center, Women’s Center, Latinx Center, LGBTQ+ center, and Multicultural Center.
Student activists at Northern Arizona University, members of the Flagstaff Students for a Democratic Society chapter, are facing harassment and threats of suspension for holding anti-ICE rallies this past spring. One leader, Sarah Rogala, is facing a second round of conduct hearings heading towards suspension. Another leader, Claire Wagoner, has been trespassed by campus police and is threatened with arrest if she appears on campus.
We wholeheartedly condemn this violation of their First Amendment rights to free speech and the right to assembly.
Flagstaff, AZ – On Friday, September 4, the Flagstaff chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held their first protest of the school semester at Northern Arizona University (NAU). The organization has been fighting to demand a sanctuary campus, and has held multiple marches, call-in campaigns and sit-ins during meetings with university administration.
SDS Flagstaff President Claire Wagoner and Vice-president Sarah Rogala have been charged with several policy violations by the university’s administration for their protests and actions advocating for a sanctuary campus, including protesting the opening of an ICE administrative office in Flagstaff.
Baton Rouge, LA – On August 27, Louisiana State University Students (LSU) marched to the school’s administrative office to demand the university’s cultural centers be restored.
Over the summer, the LSU administration consolidated all four cultural centers under the Office of Academic Affairs. This move effectively shut them down. Additionally, all student and administrative staff were removed without warning.
Austin, TX – On September 10, Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a protest at UT Austin for their campaign against Trump-backed university administration. The group of up to 30 people marched around the campus, garnering attention from many students going to class.
The protest began with chants calling to reverse the elimination of women’s, gender and ethnic studies departments. Students also demand the firing of university President Jim Davis and Provost William Imboden.
![New York University \[NYU\] students protest federal legislation that would prevent divestment from apartheid Israel.](https://i.snap.as/sc9TA0Kd.jpg "New York University [NYU] students protest federal legislation that would prevent divestment from apartheid Israel. | Fight Back! News")
