Hundreds of students gathered in front of the University Center Thursday afternoon in a walk-out to protest Donald Trump’s presidency.
Students began trickling in just before 12 p.m when the “TNS: Call to Action” event, organized by students within activist group Underground Matter, was set to start.
“I’m hoping to elicit more student action,” said Sage Bruce, the freshman who helped organize the protest. “I don’t think this is really a time to be idle. Healing spaces, discussions are all really nice and necessary, but I do want to encourage people to really think about situations where they can really put their body on the line.”
News crews and photographers weaved in between students as an NYPD vehicle pulled up in front of the protest on Fifth Avenue. When the students noticed the police car, they began chanting “No justice, no peace, no racist police!”
It’s unclear how many people were involved in the protest, but the Facebook event page that helped gain awareness for the event shows 218 users marked as ‘Going.’
At around 1 p.m, students appeared to be in high spirits with no plans of stopping anytime soon. “To the streets! To the streets!” students began chanting. Bruce then announced a change of plans. The walk-out would be taking to the streets and heading to Washington Square Park.
As the crowd followed the organizer’s orders, dozens of onlookers whipped out their phones to capture the vibrant scene, drivers honked their horns in support, and tourists applauded from double decked buses.
At Washington Square Park, New School students congregated to the west side of the fountain, some mounting it to raise their flags even higher. “Don’t just watch us, come and join us!” protesters chanted at the dozens of onlookers at the end of the pack.
But this was just the beginning. After about 30 minutes of protest, the chant spread through the crowd once again. “To the streets!” protesters shouted. Back down Fifth avenue they went, taking a right on 14th street, and then crossing into Union Square.
Protesting students said they were saddened, infuriated, and distraught over Donald Trump’s win as the 45th president of the United States, over a man who has voiced sexim, racism, xenophophia, homophobia, and hate towards countless other minorities.
“I’m here for my mom who’s an immigrant from Syria, I’m here for my gay sister, I’m here for my refugee family that was supposed to be here this week. I’m here for solidarity,” said freshman Tatiana Martino as she held up a cardboard sign that reads “my body my choice.”
Despite the election results initially provoking outrage in these students, many are beginning to feel hopeful.
“Last night I ended up going to the union square protest and that lifted up my spirits a whole lot. It made me feel hope that we can overcome this,” said freshman Rebecca Chamblee. “Donald Trump hasn’t won. He’s not the one the nation wants. We can still stand up against bigotry. The people are going to be the ones who speak.”
“I love this country, I love this world, and that’s why I’m making my voice heard,” said sophomore Elliot Wables.
No arrests were made during this protest, police said.
This gathering occurred just hours after thousands came together to march from Union Square to Trump Tower for a anti-Trump protest Thursday evening. 65 people were arrested after traffic came to crawl as the massive group pushed uptown, DNAinfo reports.
The New School Free Press contacted the The New School for comment but the university was not immediately available.
Photos by Alexi Rosenfeld & Orlando Mendiola
Sydney is a current Junior studying Journalism & Design at Eugene Lang and the Co-Editor-In-Chief of The New School Free Press. She spends a questionable amount of time responding to emails, remembering coffee orders for her various internships, producing films & frolicking around the Lower East Side where she’s living her New York dream of occupying a bedroom with a brick wall.
