The University of Connecticut’s Undergraduate Student Government has continued to push for support from UConn in anticipation of attacks to higher education by the Trump administration. Accompanying the campaign is a video of USG President Andy Zhang, posted on the USG Instagram on Sunday, April 27.
“We must make the difficult but necessary choice to stand up and fight,” said Zhang in the video. “This is not just about protecting individual students, it’s about defending the very mission of public higher education.”
The video was published only four days after a group of students rallied at last week’s board of trustees meeting to call for protection from the university. Zhang led the group, which included USG Vice President Haritha Subramanian and former USG President Lorien Touponse.
USG had released a statement of position a week earlier to show support for students to call for support from UConn’s administration. The full document, titled “A Statement of Position Regarding the University’s Responsibilities Amid Federal Actions on Higher Education Institutions,” passed the USG Senate on April 16.
The statement primarily calls for the university to ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from campus, “refuse to negotiate or comply with unlawful federal demands” and to create a fund for students, faculty and staff who are under legal threat by executive orders.
Now, a week after attending the board of trustees meeting, USG has promised to continue to advocate for student protection.
“The video was released to ensure that every student at UConn knows they are not alone,” said Zhang in an email. “At a time of intense federal pressure on higher education, we wanted to make clear that students at this university are actively fighting to protect one another.”
The recent executive orders targeting schools have involved denouncing diversity, equity and inclusion programs, promising to tighten accreditation, threatening to rescind federal funding and the revoking of student visas.
These policies have already begun affecting UConn. University senate meetings have involved discussions on how to tackle these various issues as the school weighs the value of certain programs against federal funds. 13 student visas have already been revoked but have since been restored.
“We also wanted to raise broader awareness of the national threats to academic freedom, student safety, and institutional autonomy—and to invite others to join us in demanding urgent, principled action from our university,” said Zhang in his email.
Action has already begun. Sixth-semester law student Colin Rosadino posted a petition to change.org on April 19, titled “UCONN – BAN ICE. DEFY TRUMP.” Similar to USG’s statement of position, Rosadino calls for further university protections.
When asked about current conversations with the university and the restoration of visa statuses, Rosadino expressed satisfaction with the reversal of the Trump policy.
“The policy reversal was a major win,” said Rosadino in an email. “It was the result of the work of communities across the country unifying to pressure local legal institutions to take immediate action to protect our international students.”
Rosadino instead found issue with UConn’s lack of involvement with the revoking of student visas.
“UConn did not fight to ensure the lawsuit for a preliminary injunction on these illegal visa/SEVIS revocations (ultimately filed by the ACLU) happened, its students and faculty independently did,” said Rosadino. “As other states filed these lawsuits, UConn Administrators did little to leverage their state connections to make sure the same happened here as soon as possible.”
Zhang noted in his email that USG is currently in conversations with UConn, specifically with university admissions, about their campaign.
“We’re encouraged by the willingness to engage, and we look forward to continuing to build a collaborative relationship,” said Zhang. “We all share a common goal: protecting our students and preserving the mission of public higher education.”
Zhang also expressed satisfaction with the response USG has received from students, calling it “positive.”
“Many have noted that this is a crucial issue to take a stance on in order to protect students of all identities and the values and integrity of higher education,” said Zhang. “They were glad to see that we are working with the UConn Administration to ensure that we are supporting students as much as we possibly can.”
USG Vice President Haritha Subramanian stated that she was happy with the restoration of international student visas but still found the issue troubling. Subramanian is worried about how future actions from the Trump administration may affect UConn.
“Even if the decision was reversed, the emotional distress and community harm caused by these events cannot be understated,” said Subramanian. “These actions have indicated that international students and other marginalized communities are still at risk and a target for the federal government. USG will continue to do everything in our power to protect all students from political overreach and institutional harm.”
Featured photo by Melany Rochester/Unsplash
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