Over 100 students rallied in White Plaza Friday afternoon to support academic freedom and free expression amid the Trump administration’s standoff with U.S. universities. The demonstration, titled “Stand For Democracy,” was organized by the Stanford chapter of Education and Democracy United (EDU), a national group of educators and students formed at Tufts University after the detention of Turkish student Rümeysa Öztürk.
The event ran from 12 to 3 p.m. and featured student and faculty speeches, student band performances and tabling by campus organizations including StanfordVotes, the Stanford American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Stanford Women in Politics (SWIP), Students for Educational Equity (SEE) and the Stanford chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
The “day of action” arrived as a response to federal policy changes affecting college campuses across the country, such as freezes on federal funding for universities, the detention of student activists like Öztürk and the revocations of visas for international students.
“The stakes for higher education and democracy at Stanford in the wider U.S. are very, very high right now,” said Stanford EDU founder and Outreach Coordinator Turner Van Slyke ’28 in an opening speech. “Alone, it’s really easy to feel powerless in response to these attacks… If we want this to stop, we have to work together.”
Van Slyke described the event’s mission in three words: urgency, agency and longevity. He and the EDU team aimed to spark concern over threats to academic freedom and rally support for a sustained pro-democracy movement at Stanford, Van Slyke said.
EDU Director of Media and Communications Jennifer Levine ’28, an opinions managing editor for The Daily, said that she has observed political apathy at Stanford, which she believes stems from a feeling of helplessness that arises in the face of a “barrage of bad news.” Levine hoped that “Stand for Democracy” would help combat such apathy by providing people with the means to take action.
“What this does, more than anything, is build community in a forward-facing way,” Levine said. “So when the time comes to put pressure potentially on any… [violation of] educational democracy, we have a population of students behind us ready to mobilize.”
Organizers said their initiative was nonpartisan, despite its opposition to actions by the Trump administration. “No matter where you fall on either side of the partisan line, I think that people can agree that we want to keep schools as pillars of democracy,” said EDU Event Coordinator Amelia Overstreet ’28.
Van Slyke echoed this sentiment. “This is not about resisting a specific party or politician,” he said. “It’s about building a better, freer university system.”
During the event, participating clubs offered letter writing to congress members, phone banking and public art activities. Student bands Marmalade and Richard and the Red Flags also performed live music.
Morgan Rangel ’28, a friend of Overstreet and Levine, said she was inspired to see the community unite in support of democratic ideals.
“I saw how much care my friends put into this event and how passionate they are,” Rangel said. “I’m just so proud of them, and it brings me hope for the future.”
The event brought together students and faculty. Anna Bigelow, a religious studies professor and a member of Stanford Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP), said she was grateful to collaborate with other campus organizations concerned about democracy.
“This is exciting because there’s all these other groups that are trying to raise awareness, to have conversations about voting, about freedom, academic freedom, about immigration,” Bigelow said. “We really feel strongly that Stanford should be aware and active about all the things that are happening in the world.”
EDU organizers said the event was only the beginning of their work. “This isn’t a one and done thing — this is an ongoing effort,” Overstreet said. “And by being visible today, hopefully we’ll get more Stanford students on board for the EDU chapter at Stanford.”