Following Trinity’s Feb. 9 statement detailing university protocols if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were to enter campus, flyers appeared on campus that read “DEAR TRINITY, ICE OUT” above a QR code. The code led to an essay written by student organizers, voicing their concern about the university’s statement.
In the email statement, Trinity President Vanessa Beasley wrote that the university had to comply with law enforcement. However, they would only be permitted access to publicly available spaces unless they had legal authorization.
However, organizers of the anti-ICE teach-in expressed that the statement did not properly address their concerns. As a response, some organizers wrote an essay outlining why they found the statement unsatisfactory, which they posted on flyers and Instagram. The writers included students from Revolución Violeta, Trinity University Latino Association (TULA) and Trinity University Students for Change.
Kennedi Heim, sophomore human communication major, was one of the contributing writers. Heim helped organize and assemble both the walk-out and teach-in against ICE, and she created the unofficial organization Trinity University Student for Change to urge students to speak out about injustice.
According to Heim, the email merely restated the law and did not offer any concrete measures to protect students and staff from ICE. “We just wanted more support. We wanted more understanding. We wanted more empathy,” Heim said.
However, the university’s statement isn’t a setback, Heim said. When she first created the TU Students for Change account, she said she knew it was going to be a slow fight. The university’s statement isn’t a sign for students to give up. Student activists have continued to speak out and organize events against ICE, such as educating the Trinity community on their rights.
“Be the change you want to see,” Heim said. “If you want change in your community, you have to go. You have to fight. You have to speak up. You have to literally be the change.”
Actions are louder than words, Kay Cansino, TULA co-president and senior sociology major, said. Cansino was relieved that the university responded, but she said she was disappointed in the lack of tangible action regarding protecting students.
“We don’t see that action happening on campus. We’re not told about that action happening on campus. So how can we know that they’re doing it?” Cansino said.
However, ICE doesn’t stop at the limits of campus, Cansion said, and neither should the support. The lack of protection and education for the community was one of her primary concerns with the university’s statement.
“That’s scary to think about – that the only support or protection that a Latino student would have is to hide on campus, right? That shouldn’t be the case,” Cansino said.
Trinity should teach the community what to do when they encounter ICE, and that education goes a long way, Cansino said. Students will tell their friends, family or professors about what they have learned, which will, in turn, help more people.
“We know that [Trinity has] resources. We know that they have buildings, and they have money and they have people that are experts in this, but we just haven’t seen hands-on [action],” Cansino said.
The university needs to put those resources into action, Cansino said. And if Trinity isn’t going to do it, students are, Cansino said. Student activists will continue to educate and support the community. Students should make an effort to inform themselves on what is happening around them, Cansino said, even if it does not directly impact them.
The Trinity administration could not be reached to provide further comment about their statement or the community’s response.
