Tulane University students rally for an affordable campus, reject Trump’s ‘compact’

New Orleans, LA – Together United Louisiana Students for a Democratic Society (TUL SDS) rallied on Friday, October 17 for an affordable campus. They demanded that Tulane lower attendance costs, increase Black and local enrollment, and protect DEI initiatives. They also pushed for more concrete actions against Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and raised issues with the racial disparities between Tulane’s majority-white composition and the surrounding majority-Black city.

“When Tulane raises our tuition, they make it harder for working-class students to join us. When Tulane complies with ICE, they push immigrant students into hiding. When Tulane eliminates DEI programs and refuses to address the stark whiteness at this school compared to New Orleans, they threaten Black and brown students in our own damn city!” declared SDS member Sania Islam.

Islam was raised in New Orleans and is now a senior at Tulane. She also said, “It’s odd to live in a Black city and see so few Black or brown students in my classroom. The tuition at this school is almost double the average income in New Orleans.”

The action responded to the publication of Donald Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”, a ten-point proposal sent to select universities that offers priority federal funding in exchange for a list of demanded changes.

Trump’s demands include rejections of race, class and gender considerations in hiring and admissions; percentage caps on admitting international students and students from immigrant backgrounds; defining sex on the basis of conservative biological criteria and rejecting transgender or non-conforming identities.

So far, Trump’s administration has sent the compact to nine universities and been rejected by four – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania and University of Southern California. Although the compact has not yet been sent to Tulane, students demanded that Tulane administration demonstrate their support for the student population under threat and reject the plan if it comes to their table.

Tulane students reported that over the years they have seen sharp price increases in on-campus meals plans, limited selections and higher cost of living. Rising tuition hikes threaten to submerge many in debt. Tulane has complied with Trump’s attacks on DEI by rolling back programs for low-income students and students of color. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is now named the Office of Academic Excellence and Opportunity. The administration has eradicated the Office of Gender and Sexual Diversity. Programs such as the African Studies Book Club, and Black and Lavender (LGBTQ+) graduation events have been canceled.

Students concluded the demonstration demanding that Tulane reject Trump’s compact, and instill progressive measures such as freezing the rising costs, institute a sanctuary campus and re-integrate programs that celebrate and encourage cultural, economic, gender and sexual diversity on campus.

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