Students for a Democratic Society protesting the Trump Administration and USF. Photo by Leah Burdick
They held signs about defending free speech on campus and protecting international and immigrant students.
”I’m really angry about the compact, the compact for excellence in higher education, I believe it’s called, that Trump put out and is pressuring universities to comply to,” said SDS member Connor Jaap.
Along with being upset with these policies, Jaap and the other demonstrators spoke out against the lawsuit they filed against USF.
Jaap said USF is threatened by the student movement speaking out against these policies, and that is why they are not allowed on campus.
“They know that we do have power as students, and we can do something about how the university is treating us and complying with the Trump administration,” he said.
Victoria Hinckley is another member of SDS, and she said USF is ignoring the lawsuit.
“We filed multiple Title 6 complaints and nothing was done about it,” Hinkley said.
She said by rallying and getting more attention about free speech, like today, the group hopes to put more pressure on the school.
Hinckley also said there have been other SDS chapters being reprimanded for speaking out about various issues like Palestine and immigration.
“It’s definitely a nationwide issue, not just a Tampa thing, and our oppression obviously is very severe, but it is happening across many different campuses that we can see,” she said.
While they were chanting, multiple students stopped and listened, and some cars honked while driving by.