Although Donald Trump’s tenure as President of the United States is just hours old, students at UW-Madison have already commenced an opposition movement, as some walked out of classes and joined a protest in downtown Madison Friday afternoon.
The Madison Socialist Alternative sponsored the student walkout, and various local organizations such as the Madison chapter of the National Organization for Women, the UW-Madison Teaching Assistants’ Association and the Student Labor Action Coalition served as co-sponsors, according to the event’s Facebook page.
The protest is part of a national network of student walkouts “against bigotry and hate,” according to the event description.
Students walked out of class beginning at noon, and many joined a city-wide protest march and rally, also sponsored by the Madison Socialist Alternative.
The city-wide event started at 2 p.m. with a rally featuring student speakers, followed by a march from Library Mall to the state Capitol.
John Kinney, a sophomore, said he chose to boycott his classes to “kick off the next four years of protests.”
“I didn’t want to normalize Trump’s presidency and go about business as usual,” Kinney said. “[We need to] get as big a resistance going as possible.”
Kinney, a member of Socialist Alternative who also spoke at the rally, said the main goals of movement are to show solidarity with targeted minority groups and to support other activists protesting Trump’s presidency.
Sam Pernsteiner, also a sophomore, said she joined Socialist Alternative and attended the protest because she wanted to translate her disappointment into action.
“I was really upset by the election,” Pernsteiner said. “I promised myself I would use my emotions to actually do something about it and not just be upset.”
Although Kinney said Socialist Alternative does not agree with Democrats who support a peaceful transition of power, some attendees said they were “protesting Trump as a person,” not the inauguration itself.
“Obviously there should be a peaceful transition,” said UW-Madison student Natalie Sommers. “That’s why our country has done so well.”
Erica Ferguson, a first-year student, echoed Sommers’ sentiment.
“I’m here because I disagree with him,” she said. “I’m not saying he shouldn’t be inaugurated.”
Protesters marching down West Johnson Street toward the Capitol drew attention from people passing by, some of whom expressed support for the march.
“I hope with protests like this other nations realize we don’t all stand behind Trump,” said Paige Goodings, a UW-Madison senior who was riding her bicycle past the protest. “He better realize that he has to advocate for everyone now.”
Maddie Clarke, another observer of the march, said she admired the protesters’ commitment to standing up for their beliefs.
“They’re exercising their rights to be students here and that’s really cool,” Clarke said.
Approximately 200 people of all ages attended the rally. Many held signs with messages such as “fight Islamophobia,” “love not hate” and “unity is our power.”
The Inauguration Day protest is expected to be the smaller of two anti-Trump events in Madison this weekend. The Women’s March on Madison, held in solidarity with the larger march in Washington, D.C., will take place Saturday at noon.
Lilly Price and Sam Schulz contributed to this report.
UPDATE Jan. 20, 4:14 p.m.: This article was updated to include additional information.
UPDATE Jan. 20, 5:20 p.m.: This article was updated to include additional information.
