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Editor’s Note: The original article that was published on April 9, 2024 has been updated and corrected for accuracy. The original piece attributed the quote: “When students are silenced, when journalists are harassed, when entire communities are criminalized simply for speaking the truth, this is not policy— it’s tyranny. The directives to dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices, programs designed to uplift marginalized voices and foster inclusive environments are not just isolated events,” to Yuval Saar, it has since been corrected and properly attributed to the speaker, Zobia Bokhari.
The Rowan Youth Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) held a student rally in front of the Owl Statue on April 3, after an open letter asking for answers was drafted to Rowan President Ali A. Houshmand.
The open letter was signed by a handful of clubs, including the Philosophy Club, the Sociology and Anthropology Club, the Black Student Union, and Rowan Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Rowan YDSA and the other clubs and organizations who signed the open letter are requesting an increase in transparency going forward about how Rowan University and President Houshmand are going to protect their students as well as an increase in the inclusion of student voices in institutional decision-making.
“Even in the face of such obvious and draconian censorship, Rowan University has refused to holistically acknowledge the ongoing harm we are enduring under the guise that our concerns are ‘hypothetical,’ as Provost [Anthony] Lowman insisted at the Town Hall on March 7th,” said the open letter.
The town hall referenced in the letter, held by Rowan administrators, discussed changes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the university following directives from President Trump’s administration. YDSA, along with the other clubs that signed the letter, were advocating for more student involvement in the decision-making process surrounding the DEI changes.
Titled “March For Our Voices,” students from YDSA banded together to protest in response to President Donald Trump and his administration targeting higher education institutions and the detention of international students and staff on college campuses across the country by ICE. Recent examples include Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil of Columbia University, as well as international staff member Rasha Alawieh, Ph.D, of Brown University.
Call-and-response chants of “Abolish ICE, shut them down! Let our people stand their ground!” and “Up, up, with liberation! Down, down, with deportation!” echoed through campus from the voices of about 20 student protesters, the majority of whom wore masks to conceal their identities.
“I turn my attention to the administration with a simple message: we have seen this before. We know where it leads, what are you going to do?” said one of the masked students who wished to remain anonymous.
Protesters marched from the owl statue all the way over to the steps of the front entrance of Bunce Hall, with a quick stop. Before departing from each stop, the protesters would write on the ground with different colors of chalk, with messages that read “Fight the Constitution,” “Free Palestine,” and “Protect trans youth.”
“When students are silenced, when journalists are harassed, when entire communities are criminalized simply for speaking the truth, this is not policy— it’s tyranny. The directives to dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices, programs designed to uplift marginalized voices and foster inclusive environments are not just isolated events,” said Zobia Bokhari, president of YSDA and SJP.
Danih-Lael Alexandre, a double major in theatre arts and political science, stood watching the protest among other student and faculty spectators, snapping along to the speakers as they continued to let their voices be heard.
“In a situation like this, where liberties are being encroached, you’ve got what you command and you encourage what you tolerate. To allow what’s been happening in the nation to go on without raising voices and protest is encouraging enough, and I feel like it’s important to speak up,” said Alexandre.
Zackary Brown, the current president of the Rowan Student Government Association (SGA) who also signed the open letter to President Houshmand, attended the protest as well not just to represent the student body, but to also show solidarity.
“I was deeply moved by everything. The chants, the speeches, the poetry. I think that this is a call to action for any student in the student body right now to become a part of this movement or just to advocate, especially to mobilize against all of the different things that our current administration is doing to dismantle DEI, Brown said. “So yeah, I do believe that we will see a lot of student leaders and a lot of students in general become more bold and speak out.”
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