On March 31, workers, students, and allies rallied together on the steps of Johnston Hall, which contains the office of the University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham’s, to protest what they criticize as the University’s failure to forcefully object to ICE’s recent abduction of a graduate student, and an onslaught of University policies limiting the freedom of speech across campus. By assembling in the hundreds, the crowd challenged the University’s policy that any gathering of more than 100 people must have a permit obtained two weeks in advance. The rally was organized by AFSCME 3800, representing about 6,500 clerical workers across campus, and the Graduate Labor Union (GLU), representing about 4,000 graduate workers at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. GLU, local 1105 of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), won its first union contract earlier this year.
Abaki Beck, a Ph.D. candidate in public health and president of GLU-UE Local 1105, kicked off the rally by denouncing Cunningham’s administration, stating that the University’s leadership “capitulated to the Trump administration to protect funding.”
In a January 30 article published in the The Minnesota Daily, Jake Ricker, a University spokesperson, is quoted as stating that, “While the University does not have responsibility or an active role in federal officials enforcing federal law or court processes, as a public university and employer, we cannot ignore federal court orders or subpoenas.” Some students and workers have criticized this and similar statements as an indication that the university doesn’t plan to aggressively fight the Trump administration rounding up of students. Beck went on to characterize Cunningham’s campus-wide email on March 28, one day after the abduction of a graduate student by ICE, as “insufficient” and delayed, “after violence already occurred.” In that email, Cunningham stated, “The University had no prior knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred.” She called the news “distressing” and offered mental health support to those disturbed by it, but critics say she did not condemn the detention itself or publicly outline steps to avoid this kind of action in the future.
