FSU community rallies over the current state of the world

By Antonio Machado

Multimedia Editor

The Massachusetts State College Association (MSCA) held a rally on May 1 to peacefully protest the war in Iran, the surge of arrests done by ICE, cuts to education funding, and attacks on academic freedom. 

Students, staff, faculty, and administrators gathered in the McCarthy Center to hear speeches from the Framingham State community. The group then marched to the pedestrian bridge on Route 9.

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Kristen Porter-Utley said she was happy to be at the rally “because this moment matters and because you matter. The faculty and staff at this University are the heart of this institution, and today, on International Workers’ Day, it feels right to stand together.”

Porter-Utley said the University should be a place where students, faculty, and staff alike should be able to show up fully. “We must, where others aren't, continue to promote peace and model productive dialogue.”

English Professor Rachel Trousdale thanked everyone present at the rally. “Short or tall, big or small, whoever you are, whatever shape you are, wherever your ancestors are from, wherever you're from, you belong here, and we're glad you're here,” she said.

“It has been a heck of a year and three months, people, where we have been seeing abuse after abuse, outrage after outrage. We've seen major attacks on the LGBTQ plus community. We've seen a war in Iran provoked for no discernible reason,” Trousdale added.

Trousdale said the U.S. is currently averaging one death in ICE detention every six days, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “That is an outrage. It is human rights abuse, and it is happening right now, and it is happening here in Framingham.”

Chair of the English Department Lisa Eck said it’s hugely important for the University to support a rally such as this one because the issues being discussed directly affect students and faculty.

Student speaker Izayah Morgan said “everyone, regardless of immigration status, deserves a right to be here, and we need to stop mass deportations and illegal kidnapping of people.”

She said the reason the University was hosting a rally on campus as opposed to organizing a trip to Boston is that one of President Donald Trump’s administration’s biggest targets is higher education.

Trousdale said, “We are seeing huge rollbacks on academic freedom. Nationwide, state legislators and red states have been passing legislation, limiting what it is legal to say in a classroom. This does not happen in a free civil society”

She added the Trump administration is targeting higher education because they are afraid of educated people questioning their methodology.

“What we do is a shared enterprise - faculty, staff, and students ask hard questions. When someone stands up and says, ‘Vaccines are dangerous.’ We're gonna say, ‘Show me the studies.’ We're gonna say, ‘Is that peer reviewed?’” Trousdale said.

Criminology and Sociology Professor Forrest Rodgers said universities need to be leaders and a safe haven for times of unease and advocacy for the rights of a community.

“FSU is a multicultural, diverse university with people from a variety of backgrounds … as a result, it’s imperative the University set an example on how to lead and how to rally for the things that matter most,” he said.

Massachusetts Teachers Associate President Max Page said higher education is one of the greatest aspects of the U.S.

“It's so important that you're showing up to stand up for your University at this moment for its access, affordability, or its quality. …  If you have a thinking knowledgeable citizenry, they will go after authoritarians who want to take away their rights,” Page added.

Page said it’s important for students to get educated so they can spread their knowledge.

Porter-Utley said, “The moment a university begins telling scholars what conclusions are suckable, and what can and can't be taught in the classroom, it stops being a university. 

“We will defend academic freedom, because the alternative is not just bad for teacher scholars and our students. It is bad for everyone who depends upon the truth, and at Framingham - we live to the truth,” she added.

Porter-Utley said the University will continue to provide resources to all campus members and to assemble local and state legislature to the best of its abilities to make sure the people in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts feel safer.

She added President Nancy Niemi has been an advocate for the voices of the FSU community. 

“Like all of us, [Niemi] is very concerned that when funding to public higher education is reduced, we are making a decision about who gets to learn, who gets to rise, and who gets left behind,” Porter-Utley said.

Morgan said teachers and professors should be paid more.

“It just saddens me that, all the time, teachers have to pay out of pocket for things that they want for their students. And I've seen teachers and professors who go above and beyond for their students,” he said.

Page said prior to coming to the rally, he was in Attleboro supporting teachers who were fighting to “earn the radical notion of a living wage, which might be around $50,000 a year. They're nowhere near that.”

He said the fight for fair taxation will strengthen public institutions.

Page said he credits years of activism for the passage of the Fair Share Amendment, a tax on multimillionaires designed to fund infrastructure and public education.

“This is a form of economic and racial justice, and we should be proud of that. We took money - a little bit of money - from the very, very rich, and brought it down to regular people,” he added.

The rallying FSU community met with the Framingham chapter of the Visibility Brigade on the pedestrian bridge over Route 9.

According to their website, The Visibility Brigade focuses on rush hour resistance by spreading “non-violent, democratic messages” in any physical capacity. They were “born out of a frustration due to the lack of physical messaging in the real world about the existential crisis that we face as a nation.”

Cheryl Elkins, a member of the Framingham Visibility Brigade, said it is important for the Framingham community to be present and rallying together, and people feel too complacent.

“People feel comfortable that they don’t need to do anything because Massachusetts is a good state. But no, we have to pay attention. … The ICE issue is a big issue here,” she said.

Trousdale said, “If you don’t stand in public, people who are impacted, people who are vulnerable, are going to think they’re alone, and they’re going to think that there’s no help available.”

She added she appreciates the support the administration offers to the community.

“Vice President Porter-Utley spoke. President Niemi wasn’t able to make it but sent her support, and that seems essential for making the University trustworthy for the students that we are here to support,” she said.

Eck said, “When we’re in a place like a University, that should be about empowerment and access and solidarity. Because of all the good things the University stands for, we have even more responsibility to act.

“The whole point of college is to find your voice, and if we’re not opening up the spaces for that and making sure students can come in, then that would be a loss,” Eck added.

Rodgers said, “I feel your voice, especially in a college setting, is so important, and if you feel so encouraged to do so, using that voice for good is always welcome, and we can help push forward for change not only on our campus, but in the broader community of Framingham and the world”

Morgan said he thinks the FSU community rallying together is beautiful. “I think it’s wonderful to see moments like that where students and teachers come together to fight for one another.

He added he thinks history repeats itself. “My ancestors, when they came here, they were brought unwillingly. Then they got their freedom, but were segregated. And now, I feel our country is trying to go back to that.”

Junior Iz Shields said they felt supported seeing the community stand together at the rally.

“When you’re in a diverse community you get to hear more about people's experiences dealing with the major events going on in the world, and it allows you to be able to lend a hand better,” they added.