Trump’s victory spurs protests and prayer service

With the end of an intense and divisive presidential election came a strong reaction to the results on campus. Various informal student gatherings, as well as a university-sanctioned prayer service, took place in the days following Donald Trump’s victory as a response to the statements, events, and potential policies that have characterized this presidential election season.

Early Wednesday morning following Election Day, a crowd consisting primarily of students gathered outside the north entrance to DeBartolo Hall in reaction to Trump’s victory. Protesters held signs and flags and chanted, “Love trumps hate,” among a number of other phrases, into the early afternoon.

One participant, sophomore Jacqui Aguirre, shared with the Rover what motivated her to partake in the protest.

“I participated to show support for people who have been frightened by the rhetoric that Trump used during his campaign,” she said. “Some of the things he said about women and minorities and sexual assault was really troubling to me as a Mexican woman and sexaul assault survivor.” Aguirre later continued, “I guess I went to let my fellow students know that I see them.”

As for the overall purpose of the protest, Aguirre said, “It isn’t to say that we’re refusing to acknowledge this man as president. For me, the purpose of the protest was to put faces to the people that Trump’s campaign targeted while galvanizing his supporters.”

A Facebook page named “We Stand For” was created soon after the protest. According to a post from November 10, the page was “created to provide a platform for sharing resources [and] support for Notre Dame students in light of the election.”

The post continued, “We stand for members of the Latinx and Black community, Immigrants, refugees, POC [people of color], LBGTQ+ community, Muslims and people of all faiths, people with disabilities, women and sexual assault survivors, the indigenous, the environment, and the human dignity of those marginalized in our national politics.”

In addition to informal protests, the university hosted an “Interfaith Prayer Service for Respect and Solidarity” on Monday, November 14. University President Father John Jenkins, CSC, emailed students three days prior to invite them to the service, writing “After an acrimonious election season, we see in our nation signs of deep divisions, uncertainty, anger and even fear. I invite the campus community to come together for a brief interfaith prayer service to ask for peace in our nation, wisdom for our leaders and care for the most vulnerable.”

In his remarks at the service, Fr. Jenkins urged all in attendance to pray for our leaders and cooperate with them to serve the common good as much as possible while adhering to one’s principles. He then outlined three guiding principles for the university community: respect for human dignity, work towards the common good, and solidarity with all peoples.

In a direct statement to undocumented students at Notre Dame, Fr. Jenkins then said, “I assure you of our special concern for you at this time. The University will spare no effort to support you, just as we will do for every student at Notre Dame.”

He continued, “You accepted our invitation to come to Notre Dame, you are now part of our family, and we will do everything we can to ensure that you complete your education at Notre Dame.”

Sophomore Chris Mulholland was in attendance and reflected on the event to the Rover. “My biggest takeaway was something that was already on my mind, but I was glad to hear it restated: an attitude of openness and recognition of one another’s human dignity ought to be the starting point of how we go about relations between different races, nationalities, faith beliefs, or whatever it may be.”

On the day following the prayer service, a Facebook event titled “SanctuaryCampusND- Walkout” hosted by “We Stand For” had begun circulating. The event page explained that the walkout, planned for November 16 at 1:35 p.m., was part of a nationwide “Sanctuary Campus” movement focused on providing sanctuary to DACA students on college campuses.

DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a policy ordered by President Obama via executive action in 2012. The action allows certain undocumented immigrants who came to the United States before turning 16 years old to receive work permits and exemption from deportation.   

The goal of the walkout, as described on the event page, was to “call on [Jenkins] to show public solidarity with all campuses who have declared or are fighting to declare themselves Sanctuary Campuses […],” as well as to “invite Fr. Jenkins to work with us, DACA students and allies, to create specific protocols that will concretely support both DACA students and mixed-status families of ND students in the case of any and all changes made to their status in the future.” In addition, a petition outlining five specific measures for Fr. Jenkins to take was delivered to the administration with over 4,000 signatures.

Hundreds of students and other community members participated, convening in front of the steps of Main Building. The walkout lasted approximately an hour.

Matt Connell is a sophomore studying business and constitutional studies. He is stoked about Christmas. You can reach him at mconnel6@nd.edu.