UMD Students Rally at Hornbake Plaza, Demand Sanctuary Campus Declaration

Chanting "Say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE," roughly 120 students and campus community members filled Hornbake Plaza on Tuesday, pressing University of Maryland President Darryll Pines to publicly declare College Park a sanctuary campus.

The rally, organized by UMD's Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, was the public face of a sanctuary campus campaign that began in September. The campaign calls on the university to pledge non-compliance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to provide dedicated resources to immigrant and undocumented students. YDSA co-chair Nick Cosgrove, a sophomore double-majoring in American studies and communication, said the group had reached out to the administration in advance with a route plan and event description, asking whether someone from the administration would attend and whether officials could accept delivery of a petition. Cosgrove said President Pines has not responded to the group's request for public comment.

"There might be, you know, emails to professors about guidelines or things like that, and that's cool, but that's not enough," Cosgrove said. "We want them to be very publicly adamant about their protections against ICE for students."

Seven speakers addressed the crowd, representing organizations including Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society, Students for Justice in Palestine, the UMD Graduate Labor Union, United Academics of Maryland, the Asian American Student Union, and UMD College Democrats. One unnamed speaker drew some of the rally's loudest response: "A university should not be a place of higher learning if it's a place of high terror. We are not asking for a favor. We're not asking for concessions. We're demanding safety."

Jenna Adwallah, representing Students for Justice in Palestine, said she came to support immigrant students. Attendee Jyaire Matthews said he believes a sanctuary declaration would make everyone on campus feel safer.

Cosgrove also called on the university to restore a webpage from its Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life office that disappeared from the Stamp Student Union's website over the summer. The university told The Diamondback in September that those resources have since been integrated into the Thrive Center for Essential Needs, though YDSA maintains that a quiet administrative migration is no substitute for a public commitment.

The atmosphere at Tuesday's rally carried a palpable undercurrent of anxiety rooted in an earlier campus incident. According to a rally attendee identified only as Perry, some participants felt endangered by the prospect of demonstrating publicly, a feeling traced to an October 21 event in Jiménez Hall hosted by Students Supporting Israel, during which protesters and journalists were detained after an appearance involving Israeli Defense Force soldiers.

Organizers built visible safety measures into the rally's structure. Designated mediators wore red ribbons across their heads and necks and were positioned to serve as points of contact if anything unsafe occurred involving police or administrators. Behind the speakers, a large banner spelled out "YDSA UMD" in red, while participants followed along with printed chant sheets.

President Pines has not issued a public response to the sanctuary campus demand. Whether the petition was formally delivered to the administration at Tuesday's rally, and what response, if any, university officials will offer, remains unanswered.