Around 200 Duke community members and Durham residents protested Wednesday afternoon to demand that Duke not comply with the Trump administration’s efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and target undocumented communities.
Many participants also condemned the University’s Pickets, Protests and Demonstrations policy as “prohibitive” of free speech, saying it allows for student activists to be “target[ed].”
The protest was attended by various local groups, including the Duke Graduate Student Union, Jewish Voice for Peace, Socialist Alternative, Duke Respects Durham and Duke Academics and Staff for Justice in Palestine. Organizers and participants gathered at 5 p.m. at Trinity Park before marching around East Campus.
“Higher learning institutions like Duke have the privilege, and I would say the responsibility, to protect and nurture the minds of the future,” one community member said in an opening address, adding that Duke has an obligation to uphold DEI policies against a recent directive from the Trump administration requiring universities nationwide to ban DEI initiatives within two weeks or risk losing federal funding.
The speaker noted that the private institution, with its current $11.9 billion endowment, “can afford to take some risks” and should use its resources to “engage in the community around [Duke] and make a positive impact.”
“This is the time for Duke to stand with the people and not against them,” the speaker said. “… Together, we can make Duke and Durham the place that it should be, a space where justice, freedom and humanity thrive.”
Soon after, the protesters marched to East Campus. Around 5:35 p.m., the East Campus Loop echoed with chants of “Duke, Duke, don’t comply. Don’t dismantle DEI.” Dozens of passing drivers honked and chanted in support of the protesters.
Organizers had initially planned to march across the campus but were blocked by law enforcement officers at the University’s entrance. Instead, the demonstration was rerouted to circle the East Campus Loop.
Some participants eventually made their way onto University property, in spite of Duke’s PPD policy. Others who “felt uncomfortable going on campus” chose not to violate the rule.
“[Some participants] stayed on the public sidewalk, while simultaneously, people were on the stone wall inside East Campus,” said Maggie Heraty, program coordinator for the Duke Forest and one of the protest’s organizers.
As they circled the East Campus Loop, protesters called for an end to the University’s PPD policy and that the University “drop all charges against activists and advocates.” Heraty hoped that the University would “be on the side of the people and free speech,” asserting that the policy “doesn't allow our community to have a response in an emerging political moment where a fascist is in power.”
Heraty said the gathering aimed to “announc[e] the presence of the Durham and Duke community” and demonstrate support for its more vulnerable members, “whether those are students, whether they’re ourselves … or whether they’re our neighbors in Durham.”
Representatives from several Duke and Durham organizations attended to advocate for their own causes.
Kelly Corwin, a member of Socialist Alternative, passed out the latest edition of her organization’s newspaper throughout the demonstration. She referred to the “problem” created by the president as “a symptom of the actual disease, which is capitalism.”
“Even if we fight back Trump’s attacks, there will always be another Trump that comes up until we create a more equitable economic system that is democratically decided by working people,” she said.
Members of the Duke Graduate Students Union were also present at the event, including Dillon Sandhu, a doctoral student in the Graduate School who carried a large union banner. Sandhu found the protest’s community activist spirit to be especially meaningful at a time when he feels organized protests on campus are in decline.
“When Trump first won, there were massive, massive protests … and this year, when Trump won, we saw very little,” he said.
Though Sandhu considered the protest to be a “relatively small movement,” he felt it still had a significant impact, reaching many in the community and inspiring an organized drive to “fight back.”
Other participants remained similarly hopeful for the future.
“I hope that the University will hear us, and I hope that this will build into a bigger moment,” said Julia Borbely-Brown, Woman’s College ’70 and a Durham resident. “… I want Duke to know that the neighborhood stands behind this issue.”
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Rebecca Fan is a Trinity sophomore and a staff reporter for the news department.
Sarah Diaz is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.