Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society students at rally for Mariana Guimaraes on Florida State University’s campus.
Courtesy of Tally SDS
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
At the start of the fall semester, FSU graduate student Mariana Guimaraes started working at the Victim Advocate Program (VAP) as a Master’s of Social Work (MSW) Clinical Intern. On Sept. 10, she was terminated from the position, which fulfilled an academic requirement for her degree.
The VAP provides a number of resources, including confidential assistance, emotional support, safety planning, and help with legal and medical processes to students, faculty, and staff at FSU who have experienced a traumatic or victimizing event.
Guimaraes and others in Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) are raising questions; to them, this termination represents a broader effort to stifle student activists and silence protests on campus.
Why Mariana Guimaraes was terminated
Guimaraes told the FSView that upon her termination, her supervisor cited a video posted by Tally SDS on Instagram that featured Guimaraes and other members of Tallahassee SDS chanting “Shame on FSU,” and “Dare to struggle. Dare to Win.”
According to Guimaraes, her supervisor said they did not know whether they could trust her with confidential patient information, and that her actions damaged their relationship with campus partners, therefore prompting her termination.
“All VAP interns are expected to adhere to the ethical and professional standards of the position and sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition of their internship,” FSU Senior Director of Communications Amy Farnum-Patronis said to the FSView.
Guimaraes interviewed for the position last spring and underwent a background check and fingerprinting. While undergoing the background check, she remained actively involved in SDS as Vice President and served as an emcee at a protest on the first day of the internship. Guimaraes told the FSView there was no policy that she had been made aware of from staff against political speech or attending political protests.
For Guimareas, this termination came out of the blue.
“This is a clear escalation on student activists at FSU, causing a huge strain on my academic opportunity,” she told the FSView in an interview.
Guimaraes did not receive a physical letter of termination and has only been in contact with HR at the Victim Advocate Program.
Farnum-Patronis told the FSView that interns with the Victim Advocate Program have no employment relationship with FSU.
“In general, internships with the Victims Advocate Program are coordinated through the College of Social Work as part of a student’s academic requirements. These types of internships with the Victims Advocate Program are considered courtesy appointments to distinguish them from paid positions,” Farnum-Patronis said.
Tallahassee SDS marches
On Sept. 22, Tallahassee SDS hosted a rally to bring awareness to Guimareas’ termination and continue their broader protest against what they describe as rape culture at FSU.
Protest attendees started at the integration statue and walked to the front of the Westcott Building. Their protest also continued as a number of attendees at the Boris Johnson event left the Institute for Governance and Civics’ talk, putting more eyes and ears on their cause.
“We demand better from this institution, and we shouldn’t have to face repression and retaliation for that,” Guimareas said at the rally.
Students chanted “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now” while bystanders and various members of FSU administration watched from around the fountain.
The group was moved off campus after sunset, where the rally ended shortly thereafter. This was because of FSU’s time, place, and manner restrictions for outdoor events on campus, which are “only permitted between sunrise and sundown unless prior approval is granted from the University,” according to the university’s free speech rules.
FSU administration and Tallahassee SDS
Tally SDS members see Guimaraes’s termination as further evidence of an effort by FSU administration and the FSU Police Department to undermine the organization’s mission and activism.
SDS Co-President Jadyn Glueck spoke abouot patterns of attack that their organization has faced in the past.
“They arrested one of our activists, Lane Dorsey, after the shooting, she was chanting the names of the two victims. She was shouting the names in amplified sound, and they arrested her,” Gleuck said to the FSView.
Glueck also mentioned a brainrot contest hosted by former student and social media influencer Ashton Herndon, where amplified sound was used, but no intervention occurred.
According to the FSU free speech rules, amplification equipment may be used under specific provisions, such as maintaining a reasonable sound level and not interrupting FSU’s academic processes or activities.
Despite her frustrations and disappointment, Guimaraes’s primary goal is to find a new internship position and continue with her passion for social work.
“If I don’t find another placement in a timely manner I won’t graduate,” Guimaraes said. “This is a requirement for a social work degree. I am losing out on my education because I spoke my mind.”
Fellow members of Tallahassee SDS hope their efforts will secure Guimaraes’s internship back.
LeighRose Papanikolaou is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: Tallahassee SDS rallies after member’s internship termination at FSU
Reporting by LeighRose Papanikolaou, Staff Writer, FSView / FSU News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society students at rally for Mariana Guimaraes on Florida State University’s campus. Courtesy of Tally SDS USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published September 28, 2026 at 9:01 AM.