On Nov. 11, 2016, hundreds of members of the Vanderbilt community met to protest Donald Trump’s election as president. Vanderbilt students joined others across the country that have rallied against Trump’s election and his message.
“We will not stand with a president that hates so many of our people. Students are unhappy with the decision of the electoral college and of those that are able to vote and who are not banned because of voting restriction laws” said Shawn Reilly, one of the organizers of the event. “We will not stand with Trump as our president.”
Kadiri Vaquer, another event organizer, believes that this event allowed people to engage with their feelings about this election.
“I think that instead of secluding ourselves and insulating, I think we have to get back out and realize that there are a lot of other people that are sharing these feelings as well.”
Students met in front of Central Library just past noon, first in small clusters but growing into a group that totaled hundreds. Joining undergraduate students were members of Vanderbilt’s graduate schools as well as staff and faculty. Many of those who attended were unclear about who was organizing the event.
The protesters marched around campus, through Rand Hall, Sarratt Student Center, the Divinity school, Law school, Warren and Moore, Wilson Hall and Kirkland Hall.
Protesters also blocked traffic on West End as the entire group stopped at the intersection of 21st Avenue S and West End for about five minutes while a contingent of Metro Police blocked traffic.
Protesters chanted “No Justice. No peace” in unison as they walked. Leaders of the protest yelled “Tell me what democracy looks like” while other protesters responded, “This is what democracy looks like.” Protesters also screamed, “Not our president” and “We reject the president elect.” Many carried bright gold flags marked with the word “Dignity” and other carried signs saying “We stand by you” and “We stand together.” At the front of the line was a group of drummers and singers, whose loud words and rhythms were heard all around campus, energizing protesters.
In addition to protesting the presidential election results, the group rallied in Rand in a show of support for Vanderbilt Dining workers. Protesters gathered and called “This is a message to our dining workers. We are here for you. We will get you a living wage. We will get your union rights restored. Vanderbilt students love our dining workers. They too are Vanderbilt.” Dining workers gathered around protesters and cheered and clapped at the show of support.
The group returned to Central Library at the end of the protest after over an hour of walking through campus. Organizers led a call to action that previewed future on-campus events and called for those in attendance to be more active and look at activism beyond the protest.
Vaquer made clear that this event was just the beginning of efforts to bring the campus community together.
“I feel like we are together and we’re strong and that there are a lot of things we don’t do, that there’s a lot of work that has to be done,” Vaquer said. “I think we need to continue organizing and I think we need to be kind. That may sound like something very simple, but be kind to others and realize that something did happen… We’re all processing and dealing with this in different ways.”
Beth Fortune, Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs at Vanderbilt, issued a statement to the Hustler regarding the protest on behalf of the University.
“We support our students exercising their First Amendment rights and want all students to feel welcome and safe to do so in this university environment dedicated to the critical discussion of complex and challenging ideas,” the statement reads. “We talk regularly with students and student groups to hear about their experiences and encourage them to come forward with their concerns.”
Sara Ernst and Zoë Shancer contributed to this report.
Photos by Ziyi Liu.
Videos by Sara Ernst and Cutler Klein.