Students have the right to speak out, organize, and protest peacefully without fear of retaliation, detention, deportation, or other punishment.
Freedom of expression, association, and assembly are not privileges. They are human rights protected under international law and the U.S. Constitution.
Crackdowns on student protestors are part of a broader trend of authoritarian practices designed to shrink people power, silence dissent, and target marginalized communities, especially immigrant and international students.
Students have the power to defend their campuses as spaces for free expression, peaceful protest, academic freedom, and inclusive learning.
This guide is organized by the types of actions your group can take, based on your time and resources.
Start where your group has capacity, then build momentum toward the main goal: introducing, passing, and implementing a Firewall for Freedom campus resolution.
The Firewall for Freedom resolution is the primary student organizing focus of this toolkit. But it is also part of AIUSA’s broader Defend Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Protest Campaign, which calls on people across the country to defend the rights of students, protesters, journalists, and communities targeted for speaking out.
Students and student groups can use the actions in the guide to connect campus organizing to the broader campaign.
Read the “Student Guide to Defending Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Protest.”