Dozens of students Georgetown students walked out of class Tuesday, Sept. 9 to demand an end to President Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard and surge of federal law enforcement agents in D.C.
Campus advocacy groups, including GU Pride, Georgetown Students for Justice in Palestine, Hoyas for Immigrant Rights, Sunrise Georgetown, ACLU Georgetown, and Get Free GU, joined the rally with students from across the city. The organizers welcomed Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wa., CAS ’86) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-Ma.) as speakers.
Scout Cardillo (CAS ’27), a Free D.C. student organizer, described the walkout as a symbol of unity with demonstrators from across organizations and universities.
Photo by Izzy Wagener
“It’s not just Georgetown walking out,” Cardillo said. “We are working with [American University], Howard, [George Washington], [University of the District of Columbia], and all of the other schools to show that students are not going to comply with the Trump administration.”
Organizers initially established Free D.C. as a campaign to protect the Home Rule act of 1973, but have recently begun protesting the occupation of D.C. by federal law enforcement.
Trump declared a “crime emergency” in D.C. on Aug. 1, despite violent crime in the city being at a 30-year low, and created the “Safe and Beautiful Task Force.” The task force deployed over 2,000 members of the National Guard on Title 32 status, which is typically activated during natural disasters and grants officers the ability to act as law enforcement.
Armed troops now patrol the streets with the mission of restoring order and beautifying the area, according to the Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense). Residents have also reported significant numbers of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency detaining residents in D.C.’s streets.
In light of the occupation, students gathered in Red Square to call on the Georgetown administration to guarantee non-compliance with the Trump administration and federal law enforcement agencies.
“We’re meeting specifically at Georgetown to demand that the administration take an outspoken stance on protecting students, faculty, and staff in the context of the federal occupation,” Cardillo said.
On Aug. 14, all Georgetown students received an email from Erik Smulson, Georgetown University’s Vice President for Public Affairs, in which he acknowledged the potential uptick in federal law enforcement officers in D.C.
“Based on reporting in recent days, you may notice an increase in law enforcement presence throughout the city, including in areas of our campuses that are open to the general public,” Smulson said. “As always, we expect any law enforcement activity on our campuses to be conducted in a manner that respects the rights of our community members and fully complies with due process requirements.”
Resisting the Trump administration requires urgency, said Izzy Volpe (SFS ’27), a coordinator for Hoyas for Immigrant Rights.
“Our democracy is dying in front of our eyes, and we can’t do nothing, we have a moral responsibility,” Volpe said. “The students are the catalyst for the overthrow of authoritarian regimes, and so if we don’t stand up and do something now, we’re failing ourselves or failing our families..”
Yorkabiel Tekle (SFS ’28) said the walkout represented an opportunity to stand up for herself and her loved ones at home.
“I walked out today because this is an issue that’s very close to me. I’m an immigrant,” Tekle said. “As a student here in Georgetown, being in the capital, I have a privilege that it would be wrong to not use.”
Student organizers hosted Congresswoman Jayapal and Senator Markey, who both condemned the occupation of D.C. in their speeches.
Photo by Izzy Wagener Senator Markey delivers speech to Georgetown protesters.Photo by Izzy Wagener
“What he is attempting, not just here in D.C., but in Chicago, in L.A., in Boston, is to try to characterize communities that are majority minority, that are majority black and brown as being unsafe to live,” Markey said. “It is not a coincidence that he’s picking all of these cities that are black and brown majority. It is to scare America. You cannot make America great again by making America hate again.”
Over the weekend, the Trump administration announced its launch of “Patriot 2.0,” a similar attempt to crack down on illegal immigration in Boston. On Monday, President Trump launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago with the same central focus, but increased emphasis on eliminating crime in the city.
While Trump’s public safety emergency declaration for D.C. is set to expire on Sept. 10. Because the president controls the national guard at the federal level, it is unclear if and how the expiration will impact their presence.
Nolan Seebeck (CAS ’29) found reassurance that state leaders—specifically his state’s senator, Markey—joined students in their efforts.
“Coming out here and letting the people in charge know that we’re not going to stand for that overreach is important,” Seebeck said. “Hearing the kind of language that grassroots movements are using iterated by politicians shows the seriousness of our issue.”
Jayapal said that this protest movement is critically important.
“What you are doing here today is so important because at the end of the day, the checks and balances that were supposed to be built into our constitution so that we could protect our constitutional rights are not working right now,” Jayapal said. “Liiterally the only check and balance is you.”
Photo by Izzy Wagener Congresswoman Jayapal delivering speech at her alma mater.Photo by Izzy Wagener
Jayapal celebrated Georgetown students for organizing against the Trump administration.
“So don’t forget that every single movement, every single event, every single walk out, every single protest, every single act of non cooperation, is part of what it takes to build a people’s movement,” Jayapal said.
The walkout is part of a larger organizing effort by advocacy groups on campus, who joined the thousands of protesters in the “We Are All D.C.” march on Sept 6. The march was organized by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Free D.C.
Dressed in blue and grey and holding signs in support of D.C., Cardillo estimated that around 60 Georgetown students attended Saturday’s march, with the bulk of participants coming from Georgetown University College Democrats (GUCD) and Hoyas for Immigrant Rights.
Emily Han (CAS ’26), a student organizer of the march from Free D.C., has been steadfast in engaging a variety of Georgetown organizations in the campaign.
“I love going to these kinds of community events and protests to just be with everybody. It’s very inspiring to be here,” Han said. People of all ages and corners of the city were gathered chatting, chanting, and watching live performances while they waited for the march to start.
During the march last Saturday, demonstrators walked over two miles from Malcolm X Park to Freedom Plaza, passing the White House on the way.
“The energy has been joy, love, community. We’re singing, we’re dancing, we’re chanting, we’re raising our voices together,” Volpe said. “One of the best moments was when we went through a tunnel and everyone was just yelling and shouting. There was a church that rang their bells for us.”
Walking alongside current Georgetown students was alumnus and D.C. resident Robin White (SFS ’71), who attended the march with her senior living community..
“I first started demonstrating around 1969 against the Vietnam War when I was at Georgetown,” White said. “This is a city of culture that is really quite amazing and I hope it can stay that way.”
