Students, faculty and staff at more than 100 colleges across the United States staged coordinated protests Friday, launching a national campaign against the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape higher education. The actions, organized under the Students Rise Up network, marked the first wave of demonstrations expected to build toward campus and labor strikes next May Day and a planned nationwide general strike in 2028.
Participants urged university leaders and lawmakers to reject President Trump’s proposed “compact,” which would grant institutions favored access to federal funding if they agree to support the administration’s conservative priorities. New College of Florida remains the only campus to sign on so far.
“Universities should be a place of learning, not propaganda machines,” said Alicia Colomer of the Campus Climate Network as rallies began.
Walkouts, teach-ins and marches unfolded from Kansas to New York. Students demanded more affordable education, commitments to protect transgender and international students, and resistance to federal pressure they view as politically motivated. Some campuses used the moment to spotlight additional causes, including support for immigrants, fair wages for campus workers and divestment from weapons manufacturers.
At Brown University, students and faculty invited passersby to add painted handprints to a banner of demands. “Trump came to our community thinking we could be bullied out of our freedom,” said sophomore Simon Aron. “He was wrong.”
In New York City, students protested outside Apollo Global Management, targeting CEO Marc Rowan, a prominent Trump donor credited with shaping the compact. Critics say his influence gives billionaires outsized power in determining what can be taught at U.S. universities.
“Billionaires should not control what can be studied in the United States,” said University of Pennsylvania professor Amy Offner.
Organizers described the demonstrations as the beginning of a long-term mobilization. “There is only one way forward,” said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors. “Students, faculty and staff must stand united to defend higher education and democracy itself.”
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