Berkeley reacts to the new presidency

January 20th, 2017 marked a historic day for both the United States and the UC Berkeley community. The inauguration of our 45th president, Donald J. Trump, evoked a significant amount of tension and sadness within the campus and across the nation. On Sproul Plaza, while police officers patrolled the area and newscasters set up their cameras, the Berkeley community came together in solidarity- regardless of personal political convictions.

Large banners hung over Sproul Hall that read “Dignity for All” and “Compassion and Respect” as reminders of the values the University of California stands for. Teach-ins were held across campus, opening discussions about what is at stake under the Trump presidency and how people can effectively organize if and when they feel threatened or their rights are being violated.  At noon, despite the cold and rainy weather, hundreds of students from both UC Berkeley and Berkeley High school donned their coats and umbrellas and flooded to the rally on Sproul Plaza. There, they listened as organizers, students, and faculty gave emotional testimonies and messages of hope and encouragement in lieu of Trump’s inauguration, and then marched from Sproul Plaza to Oakland.

Teach-ins led by graduate students took place across campus.

David Young, fourth-year Political Science major

“It feels more real than before, and I’m terrified. Now that Trump’s officially in the White House, he has the power to run this country in any way he wants. But with his character traits, endless controversy, and complete lack of political sensibility and experience, that’s scary as hell. His entire platform is based on bigotry, false accusations, and demeaning the state of our country as a way to appeal to people’s fears.

But that does not reflect our values or how far we’ve come. I’m very angered that we had to get here in order for us to finally be more active than passive, but if anything, that just gives me more hope that we can resist this presidency. At this point, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Republican, Democratic, or Independent – we all should know right from wrong.”

Julieta Flores, third-year Molecular Environmental Biology major

“Many of us had thought he’s too ‘dumb’ to do anything, or he’ll be ‘neutral’. But I saw the headline of the banning of federal funds to nonprofits offering abortion services, and my stomach dropped. It has only been days after the Women’s March and he’s already hurting women’s rights. I am definitely much more scared at the impacts his administration will have on policy and the damage they will do. But ironically, there are positive things that have already come from his presidency, such as uniting against him. Robert Reich calls it ‘the resistance’ and he has almost daily resistance reports informing us on what Trump is doing. I think it also brought that to light – information being fake and how we need to make more of an effort to check our sources.”

Students from both UC Berkeley and Berkeley High School participated in the protest.

Mukund Rathi, first-year Berkeley Law student

“It’s hard to say exactly what’s going to happen. It’s clear there’s going to be attacks on healthcare, undocumented people, rolling back funding for sexual assault prevention, and probably increased funding for police and law enforcement. But in regards to the resistance against Trump, these are the biggest protests that we’ve nationally seen in a while. The Women’s March in D.C. is the largest anti-inauguration protest in American history. The goal of these protests is to form united coalitions for people who are going to push back against the Trump agenda and form lasting organizations that will be around for the next four years of attacks.

I don’t expect anything positive to come out of the Trump administration – however, the only positive thing that can come out of the next four years is not out of the Trump presidency, but out of the people who will get organized and fight back, and those will be organizations that stick around not just to fight Trump, but to fight the next president – Republican or Democratic – who may continue those attacks.”

Erica West, graduate student in Social Work

“Like I said during at my teach-in this morning, I think the most important thing you can do is get organized and join the mass mobilizations that are happening all around the country. There’s the #J20 movement and the Women’s March, but I think it’s especially important to get involved and stay involved to combat whatever comes from the Trump Administration. Whether it is deporting immigrants, rolling back funding for sexual assault victims, or rolling back funding for schools – we have to be ready to fight. I think the only positive thing that can come out of the Trump presidency is people getting pushed into radical politics and getting more involved than they were before.”

A reminder for respect, compassion, and dignity.

With the new presidential administration in place, it is widely believed that unpredictability and anxiety will become the new norm. However, the nationwide reaction towards Trump’s election serves as a symbol of resistance against the beliefs and proposed policies that his administration represents. The actions that students and young people have taken since Trump won the election demonstrate that a silver lining can indeed be found in this highly consequential time in our history.