Waves of student protests have embroiled Cal State LA within the past several weeks, voicing concerns on recent budget cuts, the Trump administration, and the Israel-Hamas conflict. The protests have been a joint effort between several campus organizations including the Students for Quality Education (SQE), the Black Student Union and others.
On Tuesday, March 25, roughly a hundred students gathered around the Billie Jean King statue in front of the gymnasium. Protesters hung up a piñata of President Donald Trump and volunteers took turns hitting it until candy gushed out. After several speakers, the group made their way to the Student Services Building.
Ashley Gregory, an organizer for SQE, was happy with the turnout, and hopes that demonstrations such as this will spur changes on campus.
“I’m glad so many students go to hear us and see us,” said Gregory. “And I hope the administration takes the cue from students.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social that colleges could face the loss of federal funding if students were allowed to organize “illegal protests.” He also threatened the jailing and deportation of students who participated in these protests. Many law experts and civil rights organizations called Trump’s warning an attack on the First Amendment.
Two weeks earlier, students and faculty gathered around the Golden Eagle statue on March 13 to protest the arrest of former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil by federal immigration officers. The crowd heard from several speakers before moving down to the grassy plot in front of the gymnasium.
Speakers condemned Khalil’s arrest and called for Cal State LA officials to release a statement of support. They also condemned the impending budget cuts which threaten to layoff faculty and downsize many essential student programs.
Khalil, who was the one of the chief negotiators with the university during the pro-Palestinian protests last April, was arrested in the lobby of his apartment on March 8. In a court filing on Sunday, he was charged as failing to disclose information on his green card application, which included his previous employment at the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut and past work in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
“It is black-letter law that misrepresentations in this context are not protected speech,” the court filing reads. “Thus, Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring, and there is an independent basis to justify removal sufficient to foreclose Khalil’s constitutional claim here.”
Ricardo Sebastián, an organizer with the Party of Socialism and Liberation, said that there has been an increase in the number of attendees at protests because “people across the country are looking for a real solution.”
“In the wake of the Trump administration, where every day there’s an attack on people, many have a desire to take some sort of action,” Sebastián said. “We welcome all people who want to challenge the existing government and demand liberation for all oppressed people.”
