More than 100 students and employees gathered at the Chapel Monday evening to respond to Donald Trump’s election as president.
According to a press release issued by Duke Against Trump, the event was intended to create a space for students to reflect on the impact that Trump’s presidency would have on their lives and to organize students through a call to action.
“We wanted to give enough space for people to process individually and with their close friends,” said sophomore Rachel Rubin, one of the event's organizers. “But I think something that we learned during this election is what happens when you just talk about your feelings with your close friends. We wanted students to be able to process those emotions outwardly and get people to understand how much political power we have as a collective.”
The event included representatives from political groups and identity-based organizations on campus including Mi Gente, Asian Students Association, Black Student Alliance and Blue Devils United. At the gathering, several students shared their personal reactions to Trump’s impending presidency.
“At places at Duke, it’s easy to be myopic to how the bigger public is feeling,” said first-year Martin Cala after the event. “Even as Duke students we’re supposed to be educated and see the bigger picture, but we failed to see how the American public saw the current state of affairs. I want to see how we can look at how to fix that mentality and understand that we’re not the only kind of people in the country.”
The event sought to raise awareness of various groups on and off-campus that could help students in need of support or interested in organizing after the election.
Senior Elizabeth George—one of the founders of The Feminist Make-Space, a group that works to empower students who are marginalized because of their gender identity—said she thought it was important to use the opportunity to help students who feel fearful after the election.
“The reason we’re out here right now is that our group is trying to make space for the marginalized students, students who are undocumented, that’s what we’re all about," George said. "We predict a feminist backlash as well—people have been talking about ‘whitelash.' Misogyny was one of the tools that helped Trump get elected. We’re here to create a space for people to grieve and heal.”
A small group of Trump-supporting students also turned out to the event, standing in the rear and debating other students.
“We wanted to find out why people are scared of Donald Trump,” said first-year Nikhil Sridhar. "Maybe we could help to alleviate some of those fears. There tend to be people who’re scared at anti-Trump rallies. We tried to have a discussion with some people and they just shut us down. They obviously don’t support freedom of speech, and they want their ‘safe spaces.'”
Sophomore Jair Oballe, who helped organize the event, said that the gathering was meant to be a peaceful way for people to share their views.
“This event was reflective and in no way did we want to incite any kind of violence. We just wanted to make this an open space," Oballe said. "We really hope that that wasn’t misinterpreted in any way by them, and we are here as respectful students."
Video from the rally by Kenneth Campbell:
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