Federal officials activated several University students serving in the Illinois National Guard as part of President Donald Trump’s contested effort to deploy troops to Chicago, according to a University student enlisted in the Guard who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Allison Copenbarger Vance, the University’s deputy associate chancellor for strategic communications and marketing, confirmed the news in an email to The Daily Illini Tuesday.
“We are aware that some of our students in the National Guard have been contacted, but we don’t know how many,” Vance wrote. “Each student has to self-report if they are contacted.”
The school’s deployment and military drill policy says students who receive active duty orders must notify the Office of the Dean of Students as soon as possible. It states students can withdraw or take incompletes without penalty and guarantees readmission after their service.
Under federal law, universities must readmit students who withdraw due to active duty service without penalty, according to the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
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The student, whose unit was not among those activated, said superiors informed members of the Illinois National Guard of the possibility of federal activation in recent weeks. The student said those who were activated likely received little notice from command before being ordered to report.
The activation comes amid Illinois’ ongoing lawsuit challenging Trump’s order to federalize Guard troops. A judge on Thursday blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area for at least two weeks, finding no substantial evidence of a “danger of rebellion,” as Trump has claimed.
Saturday, a federal appeals court ruled that the roughly 300 Illinois National Guard troops and 200 Texas National Guard troops already under federal control can remain stationed in Chicago. The judge, however, barred further deployments while the case proceeds.
Activations like these can create significant disruptions for college students who serve, according to the student service member.
Returning to campus after a deployment often means rebuilding coursework and schedules, which the student said can be “incredibly intrusive” for academics.
Guard members undergo basic training, then drill one weekend each month and attend a two-week annual training period during the summer. In exchange for that service commitment, the Guard offers a range of education benefits that help service members pay for schooling.
The Illinois National Guard Grant covers full tuition and fees at in-state public colleges and universities, and the federal GI Bill provides additional support for housing and materials.
The student said many Guard members are college students who enlisted to use those benefits while earning their degrees. But even with those incentives, service comes with uncertainty: troops can be activated at any time for state or federal missions, interrupting their education.
Federal activation also changes the chain of command for Guard members. Normally, the Guard is under the control of the Governor, per Title 32 of the U.S. Code. When mobilized under Title 10, National Guard units operate under federal control.
Lt. Col. Brad Leighton, public affairs director for the Illinois National Guard, confirmed to The DI that the activation falls under federal authority through U.S. Army North, which operates as part of the U.S. Northern Command.
Northern Command manages Guard missions when units are on federal orders, according to Leighton. He referred further questions to Northern Command and Army North, noting that response times may be affected by the government shutdown.
A separate spokesperson for the Illinois National Guard, media relations manager Barbara Wilson, wrote in an email to The DI that, because the activation is federal, additional information would need to come from Northern Command’s public affairs office.
Army North, Northern Command and the Illinois Department of Military Affairs, which oversees the Guard at the state level, had not responded to inquiries from The DI as of Tuesday about how many Guard members — student or non-student — have been activated.
The DI contacted Gov. JB Pritzker’s Chicago and Springfield offices for comment.
**This is a developing story. Check back for updates.**
