Trump Wants Names of Protesters from Some Colleges

The Trump Administration is demanding the names and ethnicity of protesters from some colleges, raising new questions of whether Emerson College’s continuing disciplinary crackdown will expose international students to arrest or deportation.

Trump appointees have sent letters to at least five colleges demanding lists of all students who were notified of potential violations of school policies or who have been accused or punished for harassment of others “on the basis of their Jewish ancestry,” according to a report in the March 25 Washington Post. The letters demanded the students’ names and “national origin/ethnicity/shared ancestry.”

Emerson College administrators have not admitted to receiving such a request. Emerson is on a list of 60 colleges and universities that have been warned they may face sanctions for what Secretary of Education Linda McMahon alleges is “relentless antisemitic eruptions.”

These developments have added to the fears of international students at Emerson and other Boston colleges that their dreams of education in the United States may be abruptly cut short.

“I came to the United States to have a safer life,” said an Enerson master’s student from a country with a repressive government, which the student asked not to be named. The student is planning a trip home after four years here and said they are afraid they won’t be able to return to Emerson to complete the degree.

The student also said that the Emerson administration has not reached out with support or advice. “Emerson has been great in many ways,” they said. “It’s really an amazing place. But when you talk about this situation, and you see ICE everywhere, we might hear more from the administration.”

The Emerson College administration has said it is protecting undocumented students and LGBTQ+ students by not “keeping lists” that could be demanded by federal authorities. Yet it has continued to aggressively pursue disciplinary action against students, staff, and faculty for nonviolent protest activities. The arrests and intended deportation of a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University on a valid visa and a Columbia student who holds a permanent residence card have shown that the Trump Administration is not confining its crackdown to undocumented students.

The Emerson Faculty Assembly voted 96–80 on Feb. 25 to approve a measure urging the college administration to stop disciplinary actions and remove evidence of past discipline from files of students, staff, and faculty. Nelli Sargsyan, chair of the Faculty Assembly, reported that she recently met with Provost Alexandra Socarides and posed these questions: “Will the College hand over records, disciplinary records, in particular, as well as surveillance data to the federal government when and if it is asked to do so? Should we be keeping any of this information given the current situation?” Sargsyan has not yet received a response.