UCF students and faculty rally to deliver letters, demands for a sanctuary campus to administration

Orlando, FL – On October 22, over 70 students and members of faculty gathered at Memory Mall at the University of Central Florida to demand no ICE on the UCF campus and for the university to become a sanctuary campus.

The rally and march were organized by UCF Students for a Democratic Society, United Faculty of Florida, Young Democratic-Socialists of America, and Students for Education in Prison.

The rally was introduced by Vanessa Christaldi, the vice president of UCF Students for a Democratic Society, who stated, “Today we will be going down to Millican Hall to deliver our demands together. When they look down on us from their windows, they will look down and see the people, the people who are united on the right side of history.”

The students and faculty then marched around the Student Union to Millican Hall, the primary administrative building of UCF. From the start of the rally and throughout the march, many UCF Police Department officers were surrounding the protesters under the guise of “safety” and “keeping counter-protesters at bay,” even though there were only about ten counter-protesters.

The crowd was greeted with several UCF PD officers guarding the entrance to Millican Hall, preventing entry and forcing the demands of students and faculty to be delivered to a lone member of administration standing outside. While the demands were delivered the students chanted “Admin admin you can’t hide, you’re supporting ICE’s crimes” and “come out Cartwright,” referring to UCF President Alexander Cartwright.

Once the demands were delivered, representatives from the endorsing organizations got up to speak in front of Millican Hall, with the UCF PD officers still guarding the entrance.

The first to speak was Graden Houck, a member of UCF Students for a Democratic Society. Houck touched on the frustrations felt by many in the UCF community upon hearing the news that UCF PD has signed on to the 287 (g) agreement and partnered with ICE. Houck stated, “This decision goes beyond just our undocumented peers because leadership that is willing to sell out any of us will eventually sell out all of us. This decision sends a clear message to the entire student body that if the Trump administration declares you an enemy, UCF will do nothing to protect you.”

Mary Samuels, president of UCF Students for Education in Prison stated, “ICE and the current administration push a rhetoric of immigrant criminality to excuse their atrocities and legitimize their actions as routine law enforcement by partnering with public institutions like UCF and local law enforcement agencies like UCF PD, but I am here to remind you that this is a cover-up.”

Eli Lambert of UCF YDSA spoke on the recent Supreme Court ruling that allows ICE to racially profile, “ICE uses skin color and the language people are speaking as probable cause to wrongfully detain and hold them indefinitely in cruel and unusual conditions. ICE is a racist institution that is nothing more than an arm of white supremacy.”

The demands of the students were not the only letter delivered. The United Faculty of Florida (UFF) also delivered a letter of collective demands from the Higher Education Labor United.

The president of UFF at UCF, Talat Rahman, read from this letter which contained demands of making UCF a sanctuary campus and safe place for all students and faculty. Some of these demands include “providing financial support for legal counsel and representation for individuals impacted by past and future disruptions to their legal immigration status,” “cease surveilling workers and students and do not provide surveillance records to federal agencies,” and “uphold students’ and employees’ speech and academic freedom.” to list a few.

Once speeches were concluded and all of the demands were delivered, the students began chanting again, declaring “Immigrants are welcome here” and demanding “ICE off campus” before marching back to Memory Mall to close out the rally.

#OrlandoFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #StudentMovement #SDS