‘Education, not deportation’: Gonzaga students rally against Trump attacks on international students, calling on the university to protect them

Holding signs like, “Hands off students” and “Education, not deportation,” about 100 Gonzaga University students marched and chanted Friday through campus calling on the university to resist President Donald Trump’s policies on higher education and students while embodying the school’s Jesuit social justice values.

The protest, led by Gonzaga student groups like, “Do Better Gonzaga,” “Fossil Free Gonzaga” and “Gonzaga Community for Justice in Palestine,” comes on the heels of the federal government revoking two Gonzaga students’ international visas in response to Trump’s executive order targeting students who protest against Israel for the war in Gaza.

The protest also called on the university to divest itself from fossil fuels and criticized the U.S. government’s role in Gaza.

“This is why we are here today, to speak out against the abduction of international students who express political opinions, to speak out against our role in the genocide in Gaza, to call on our university to maintain its Jesuit commitment to social justice,” Sebastian Pedinielli, member of the Justice in Palestine group, said through a megaphone.

The demonstration started with Sean Mullins, a Gonzaga sophomore and member of Fossil Free Gonzaga, addressing the roughly 100 protesters at Herak Quad on campus.

Mullins said the Trump administration is attacking immigration, refugees, the environment, diversity, equity and inclusion, LGBT+ rights and “vital government programs.”

“It’s only the beginning of an authoritarian agenda that threatens our community and thousands more across the nation,” he said.

He said it’s time to resist the attacks on human dignity and freedom of speech, including fighting back against government operations to take away international members of the community and against institutions that perpetuate and profit from genocide and the climate crisis.

Mullins also read the Gonzaga mission statement, which, in part, says the university is “an exemplary learning community that educates students for lives of leadership and service for the common good.”

“So I ask you, can you participate in an exemplary learning community when some of your classmates fear unjust deportation or a revocation of their visas?” Mullins asked. “No,” the crowd yelled.

“It’s time for Gonzaga to meaningfully take action, led by its mission statement and Jesuit values,” Mullins said. “It is about damn time for Gonzaga to stand up to hate and create the conditions for a more just and peaceful world.”

Gonzaga wrote in a statement that campus demonstrations like Friday’s are an important way students and other members of the Gonzaga community can voice their concerns about important issues and current events.

“A fundamental principle which sits at the heart of Gonzaga’s educational mission is the commitment to freedom of expression,” the statement said. “Our Jesuit values call upon us to seek justice, uphold the dignity of all persons and to build bridges of understanding that can lead to a more hopeful and peaceful future. We therefore respect the right of students, faculty, staff and administrators to exercise their intellectual freedom in the pursuit of these ends.”

Pedinielli focused his comments on what he called the “genocide” waged against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel cut off humanitarian aid from the Gaza Strip and renewed its assault in Gaza after a brief ceasefire.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war with Hamas started, and Pedinielli said Americans are complicit because the U.S. has provided immense military aid to Israel.

“This is a war carried out by Israel, but politically and financially supported by the American government,” he said.

Pedinielli also decried the university students and faculty members taken by immigration agents and the revocation of visas for those who have protested Israel’s war in Gaza.

“These clear violations of rights fundamental to our democracy are undoubtedly attacks on our education, our free speech, our peaceful protests and on any semblance of activism to protest our role in the genocide in Gaza,” he said.

Pedinielli called on Gonzaga to announce how it contributes to companies he said profit from the bombardment of Gaza.

Jenaro Abraham, Gonzaga professor of political science, expressed his admiration for the student protesters and said he represented many professors who stand with them in solidarity. He said they are standing up for the poor and vulnerable.

“It is spiritual that you are partaking in struggles that benefit people that you don’t even know,” Abraham said.

Protesters marched from Herak Quad to College Hall, chanting: “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest;” “Say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE;” and, “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.”

Outside College Hall, Jackson Stopa, a member of Do Better Gonzaga, also called on the university to stay true to its mission statement.

“It must act in accordance with our university’s social justice mission by providing protection to our community members who are most at risk,” he said.

He told the protesters that students are a fundamental part of social movements.

“This is obvious in the wake of the Trump regime as you see him targeting student movements first,” Stopa said. “ … The Trump administration wants to attack students because history shows us that students hold revolutionary power to make substantial social change.”

Students placed their signs on the building’s steps and used colorful chalk to write messages like, “Immigrant lives matter” and “Immigrants make GU great.”

Peri Abrahm, a senior majoring in psychology and communications studies, wrote messages like, “Social change now” and “Fight for peace.”

“Fighting for peace” is the bare minimum we can do as people, said Abrahm, vice president of Gonzaga student club, Jewish Student Union.

“This is a very powerful way to uplift us and encourage us that the movements can be done, and they can be done well and our voices can be heard, even if that’s just in chalk and on the ground.”

She said she hopes Gonzaga officials receive the protesters’ messages, which have been voiced in demonstrations throughout the year.

“I hope that there’s just a bit more acknowledgment and sincerity in that acknowledgment of, ‘I see what my students need and I’m there for my students. We’re here to protect you and also embody our mission as fighting for justice and fighting for humanistic principles,’ ” she said.

Abrahm said they’ll continue to voice their messages until the university hears them.

“Every day is a fight,” she said. “It’s not over today, it’s not over now. It’s something that we need to embody and carry with us in every day and every interaction, and I hope that’s perceived as well.”