Hundreds of high schoolers from across the city staged a walkout on May 27, rallying in Union Square against what they view as the Trump administration’s undermining of Constitutional protections and student freedoms.
Among the organizers were students from the High School of American Studies at Lehman College and Bronx Science, under the organization We The Students, a nonpartisan coalition formed in the months since Trump’s second term began. An estimated 20 schools were represented at the protest, according to student leaders.
During the rally, students held handmade signs, some with general slogans (“Protect Our Country,” “Respect the Constitution”) and others pointedly directed at President Trump and his administration (“Morons Are Governing America,” “Ikea has better cabinets”).
The group screamed, “Hands off education!” and “The students united will never be defeated!” as passersby stopped to take photos and videos. Some onlookers said they were glad to see youth in action. “You gotta fight. We let you down,” one told the group.
Oliver Wong, a senior at the High School of American Studies, told the Bronx Times that he heard about the rally on social media and had to come support. When asked about what Trump administration policies were most concerning to him, he responded, “What can I say? Everything.”
Specifically, Wong pointed to the administration’s threats to higher education funding, especially at Harvard University, where the President has moved to cancel all the school’s federal contracts totaling $100 million and block it from admitting international students.
Trump has accused Harvard of an overall liberal bias that fosters antisemitism, but the school has clapped back, suing over the international student ban and otherwise publicly standing up to Trump. The threats hit close to home, said Wong. “We know Columbia folded.”
Under the circumstances, Wong said he was “optimistic but scared” about his future.
Margot Freudenheim, a senior at the High School of American Studies who helped organize the event, said they hoped the rally and the massive turnout would help quell some of students’ fears.
“What’s the point of fear and despair if it doesn’t motivate you to do anything?” they said.
Freudenheim said the We The Students rally follows the country’s long tradition of student protests, such as those during the Vietnam War. Although young people are living in times they called “definitely scary,” the work of coalition building was a way to counteract despair and stand up against the “erosion of democracy and expansion of executive power,” Freudenheim said.
The group aims to represent a range of student political viewpoints and will keep momentum going with another rally on June 14. Their actions show that young people can and will show up to defend their rights — to the benefit of everyone, Freudenheim said. “We don’t want to grow up in an America where the Constitution is irrelevant.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
