“Bracing for Impact”: Students and Faculty Prepare for Impending Trump Policies
By Kyra Young
Faculty and students at City College are taking action to educate, organize and prepare for President Donald Trump’s policies being enforced across the United States that threaten immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities.
On Jan. 23, the Board of Trustees adopted a resolution supporting undocumented and LGBTQ+ students at City College. Later in their discussion, Trustee Susan Solomon proposed an amendment to the resolution, calling for the chancellor’s assembly of a working group that included representatives from the groups working directly with the affected students, as well as the students themselves.
Involved parties would include CityDREAM, the Queer Resource Center, Women’s Resource Center, Women’s Gender Studies, LGBT Studies, Family Resource Center and DSPS.
“We needed some actual teeth and action in that resolution,” said Mary Bravewoman, president of the local teacher’s union AFT 2121, who stressed concern for Maria Rodriguez and Leticia Silva of CityDream during her president’s report at the Jan. 23 meeting. Both Rodriguez and Silva were absent from the meeting as they were driving fearful students home in response to a rumor of a federal immigration enforcement agent stepping onto a Muni bus and approaching a middle school student that afternoon.
Cynthia Herrera Araúz, secretary of the Associated Students Council at Mission Campus, was in the CityDREAM office the day a student claimed to have seen the federal agents on the bus and returned in visible distress. “The student ran in here crying, she was so scared,” Araúz recalled.
The mayor’s office and federal officials were able to conduct a review and later confirmed there was no federal immigration enforcement action on a Muni bus that day.
The Participatory Governance Council came together for a meeting on Feb. 6. When Interim Chancellor Mitch Bailey came forward for the Chancellor’s report, he acknowledged the exhaustion and stress of the past two weeks, but emphasized his focus on “this little corner of the world,” and added that his focus would remain on said corner until his last day at the college.
“I’m calling an advisory group together to advise me on how we continue to respond to, support and communicate with our broader community, particularly our undocumented students and our transgender students,” said Bailey. “I don’t want the conversation to get lost, as there are other populations who are under attack.”
In response to a question about the privatization of spaces, Bailey mentioned a need for the proper language to formulate a “time, place and manner” policy at City College.
The Cal State University system states the policy is a set of standards that allow for a university to “maintain an environment where its operations and work can be safely conducted without disruption in accordance with the highest standards of institutional integrity, and with recognition of the rights, privileges and responsibilities of university community members and members of the public.”
At a recent Department Chairs’ Council Meeting, questions arose over what a “sanctuary college” means and what that can and cannot do for students. It was made clear that ICE could potentially come onto campus, but could not step into classrooms without a warrant. The warrant would have to be presented to the Chancellor.
While the administration has continued to navigate the circumstances, a small task force of faculty and students have formed to address current concerns with the guidance of those on the ground and directly impacted, like CityDREAM and the Queer Resource Center. No members of the Board are currently involved.
“I think we, as teachers, cannot wait for anybody,” said Labor and Community Studies Department Chair James Tracy, who helped organize the task force. “City Dream and QRC are fantastic – they’re the frontlines of this response. They deserve all the kudos, attention and support.”
Tracy, who helped organize a fundraiser for undocumented students and CityDREAM at El Rio in January, mentioned collaborating with the SF Labor Council to hold a “Know Your Rights” solidarity event at Mission Center on Mar. 15. The event will be open to the public and have interpreters for multiple languages.
“Good teachers develop very specific relationships with their students, and we grow to care about them quite a bit,” Tracy said. “We’re gonna do what we’ve gotta do, we’re going to push back given the resources we have, and hopefully do it in an inviting way where people say ‘Oh, that’s great, now I’m gonna step up.’”
Tracy emphasized the importance of his role as an educator in Labor and Community Studies to connect students to the “direct, historical parallels” of current events, the history of people’s resistance in the U.S., and the development of skills necessary to organize and participate in resistance.
“People are so stressed with what’s going on right now – and I’m not a hippie at all, but I’m trying to teach people how to hold onto their light, and not have it squashed out of you all the time in the face of everything,” said Tracy. “And that’s organizing, working in community and breaking down isolation.”