Protests at GW: Effects of Disruption on Campus

Peri Stevens, VA - Writer

”Trump Must Go Now” sign held by Refuse Fascism campaign supporters outside of Funger Hall and the Smith Center.

The anti-Trump rally started around 11 a.m. at the Washington Monument on November 6th, with older protesters singing throughout the streets and carrying anti-Trump messaging in support of the D.C. band, Waking Stone. Signs decorated D.C., heading into GW’s campus on 1776 G Street, with written statements on them such as “No More Ice, No More Terror,” “The Fascist Trump Regime Must Go Now!” and, most notably, “Trump Must Go Now!”

No matter if you agree with anti-Trump messaging or not, students shouldn’t have to sacrifice education opportunities for protests to take place. I personally was stopped by a Refuse Fascism protester on G Street, near Funger Hall and Townhouse Row, and asked to join. When I declined, I was asked yet again. Declining a second time, the protester asked me, in a thoughtless tone, to skip class in order to attend one of their rallies in the future. Public protests come through GW’s campus often, however, there is a shared uncomfortably within the community in regards to safety concerns, and in this case, education being encouraged to be foregoed in order to protest.

However, comfort and education among students aren’t the only things being jeopardized by non-GW-affiliated individuals being able to protest throughout the campus. In the PubMed article, it displays how collective action is related to mental health side effects; collective action was shown to have negative mental health effects on individuals involved in protest and or in the community where the display took place. It should be noted that the term “collective action” includes terms such as: revolution, protest, campaign, civil disorders, demonstration, social movement, political movement, and socio-political movement. The result of the study concluded that depression and PTSD are the “[...] two most commonly studied mental health outcomes for collective actions, disasters and armed conflicts,” in regards to all types of protests. Therefore, even non-violent protests, such as November 6th’s Refuse Fascism, have the potential of creating an unsafe environment for students, being encouraged not to attend class, and possible mental side effects.

Overall, protests have negatively impacted students at GW, with a disruption in student daily life and safety. Students have a right to be fearful of random individuals entering campus with unknown intent for protest. While Refuse Fascism claims to be a non-violent organization, individual intent can differ from organizational ideals in large protest groups. In addition, the individuals protesting on GW’s campus, under Refuse Fascism, aren’t GW affiliated  individuals. The disruptive nature of people who aren’t associated with GW's institution, protesting through campus can only make someone wonder, do protests coming through GW’s streets reflect a certain political agenda upheld by the university? 

Political agendas are inadvertently pushed with GW’s silence in speaking on possibly dangerous individuals from entering campus, blocking roads and sidewalks, to protest for their personal agendas.

No matter if you align with what message of “Trump Must Go Now,” or not, the uncertainty of random individuals coming through GW’s campus leads to further security and safety precautions having to take place in order to ensure safety among the community, as seen with the National Guard being present on campus.

Protests aren’t supposed to be comfortable in nature; they are supposed to be used in order to incite change and or display disapproval for a policy. However, when students are having difficulty receiving or focusing on their education, or having negative mental health repercussions from such protests not affiliated with students, there has to be something said on whether non-GW-affiliated individuals' recurrence of protests on campus is safe for the GW community.