Students protest election results, Chancellor sends massmail with resources

Students+gather+at+Alma+Mater+to+march+through+the+Quad+and+down+Green+Street+in+order+to+protest+President+Elect+Donald+Trump+on+Friday.

Quentin Shaw

Students gather at Alma Mater to march through the Quad and down Green Street in order to protest President Elect Donald Trump on Friday.

By Daily Illini Staff Report

Three days later, some University students are still soaking in the outcome of the presidential election.

As an expression of solidarity against the results of the Presidential election, the Mexican Student Association held a rally Friday afternoon.

Students gathered around Alma Mater with posters in hand, extending their discontent, sadness, and disbelief to the election results. Student speakers and activists stood at the center, conveying personal beliefs and emotions to the diverse crowd.

Maryam Sultan, student in LAS  and activist said, “Our tears have run dry, but we cling together with strength. We do not live in the post-racial society –this has been made clear with the election of Trump.”

In the first part of the rally, students assembled around, chanting and showing their love and support for each other.

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As they said in unison, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” people’s voices rang out with pride. The crowd was charged with energy, moved by the speakers and the common goal of change.

“There were so many groups of people coming together and fighting for the same cause. They didn’t have anything else other than just spreading love and being there for each other,” Annie Victor, protester and student in communications said.

The protest group spread out to march around campus, holding signs and chanting around the main quad and through Green street.

Victor said that the crowd grew with the march. “When we went around the quad, people jumped in. The march was most definitely the best part,” Victor said.

The leaders of the activist group on campus further encourage more people to come out to other events, expressing the notion that this rally is only the start.

In light of Donald Trump being elected as the 45th president, some students are reporting incidents of intimidation on campus.

The Office of the Chancellor responded via massmail to provide students with appropriate resources.

“We work with campus and local safety officials to ensure people may gather safely and express their views,” the email said.

Violence or threats of violence are to be reported to University Police, while acts of intolerance should be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students or the Office of Diversity, Equity and Access.

No specific acts of violence or intolerance were noted in the massmail.

Jan Dukazzewski, senior in Computer Science
Jan Dukaczewski, senior in Computer Science

Jan Dukaczewski, a senior in computer science said that since the election he has noticed “certain tensions… in the country in general so of course it spills into our campus as well.”

In addition to providing resources for help, discussion spaces were mentioned in the email. A full link lists all post-election discussion spaces being held by different departments on campus.

Over 15 discussion spaces were scheduled from Wednesday to Friday. Today, there are three post-election discussion spaces.

The Department of Latino/Latina Studies is hosting Solidarity Hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Two discussion spaces are being held between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., one hosted by the University YMCA and the other by the Hear My Voice RSO.

kyle-combs

Kyle Combs, freshman in DGS said “I don’t know if there’s anything the University can do in terms of resolving upset politics between students… people are going to be people and people are going to be upset and that’s all there is to it.”

The massmail reminded students and faculty that Chancellor Jones said that this University and community is built on the values of inclusivity, mutual respect and the free exchange of ideas.

In his own massmail to the University on Wednesday, Chancellor Robert Jones noted that the challenging rhetoric and tone of this election “has stirred emotions and reminded all of us that we still have a lot of ground to cover together before we can live up to the ideals of being a united country.”

Jones emphasized in the importance of working together and respecting each other at the University, in order to move forward together.

Shalini Rumar, junior in college of LAS
Shalini Rumar, junior in college of LAS

Shalini Rumar, junior in the college LAS said “I think the [University administration] is doing a pretty good job… I don’t really know what else could really be done.”

Ashni Gandhi, Olivia Okochoa and Madeleine Hubbard contributed to this report
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Jan Dukaczewski name was misspelled in a previous version of this article.