In the wake of previously DEI-threatening initiatives by the Trump Administration which this newspaper has previously covered, Union college has seen a political fervor, with students attending protests via shuttle taking place at the New York State Capital in Albany New York across the month of April. Themes across the protests seemed not to focus on one particular aspect of the Trump administration’s actions, but rather on the administration as a whole. Picket signs displayed a wide variety of slogans and phrases targeting various aspects of the administration, with one protester saying “no sign can list all the reasons we are here.”
Notable criticisms at these protests were focused on the apparent scope of the administration, and Donald Trump’s use of drastic tariffs and a specially appointed government agency, D.O.G.E., as a means of controlling and interfering with daily life. Many in attendance, specifically those of the 50-50-1, gave speeches on topics ranging from Secretary of the HHS Robert F. Kennedy’s vaccine criticisms and harmful dialogues on mental health to the illegal deportations being performed by ICE agents in the wake of executive orders to detain and remove suspected undocumented immigrants en masse.
The website of the 50-50-1 movement characterizes their protests as a “decentralized, rapid response to the ani-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration,” and while originally intended to occur on only one single day, the movement has grown to “mobilize millions of people,” to protest in every state over half a dozen times on dates between February 17th and May 1st, with Union Shuttles helping students rally at the capitol lawn on April 19th.
“One big problem that personally motivated me to attend,” said first-year Willow Melton, “was the administration’s politicization of gender and identity, which I feel should not be an issue to begin with. In a broader sense, though, I wanted to get involved in a movement which allows me to express my dissatisfaction with the current administration and let my voice be heard.”
50-50-1 is continuing to schedule and set up protests against current Trump Administration policies, and has a schedule for more information on their website fiftyfifty.one.
