The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is facing a growing movement led by students and faculty aiming to sever the university’s connections with companies that support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This campaign, initiated in February, seeks to persuade the administration to divest from key corporations involved in ICE operations through a nonviolent, on-campus pressure campaign.
The initiative, known as RIT Against ICE, is part of a broader effort by the Association of American University Professors (AAUP) to encourage universities to cut ties with ICE. The AAUP’s “Schools Drop ICE” campaign targets educational institutions with contracts or partnerships with companies that provide logistical and material support for ICE activities.
Targeting Corporate Ties
At the heart of RIT Against ICE’s efforts is a petition calling for an end to contracts between RIT and two companies with known ties to ICE: Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Hilton Worldwide. The petition, which had garnered 1,168 signatures at the time of writing, aims to reach 4,000 signatures, representing 20% of the campus population of students, faculty, and staff.
“We identified Hilton and Enterprise as two corporations from the national pressure list with ties to RIT,” says Chad Grant, a freshman at RIT and one of the founders of RIT Against ICE. Grant explains that the university also has contracts with other companies in the same industry sectors that aren’t directly involved with ICE. The goal is to pressure these companies to cut ties with ICE through economic isolation.
Enterprise and Hilton have faced criticism in the past for allegedly providing transportation and lodging to ICE agents. In Minneapolis early this year and in Los Angeles roughly a year ago, activists disrupted ICE operations by making large reservations with Enterprise and later canceling them, denying ICE agents access to rental vehicles. Hotels where ICE agents were thought to be staying were targeted with late-night “noise demonstrations,” featuring loud music, chanting, and banging drums and pots.
Challenges and Alleged Harassment
Despite gaining support among a portion of the student body and faculty, RIT Against ICE claims to have faced harassment from the university administration. In one incident, student organizers were approached by campus public safety officers while filming a promotional video for their petition. The officers informed the students that they were not allowed to approach other students to sign their petition or display signs inside RIT buildings without prior approval.
According to Grant, the activist in the video was careful not to block walkways and only stopped for those who expressed interest in signing the petition. The group argues that the incident was part of a broader effort by the administration to limit the promotion of their petition on campus, asserting that they were not in violation of the school’s freedom of speech policies.
In another instance, student organizers of ICE Breakers, a panel discussion on anti-ICE activism organized by several official campus groups, were allegedly instructed by administrators and public safety officers not to mention RIT Against ICE’s petition at the school-sanctioned event. Zach Jordan, another student organizer, suggests that the administration is worried about setting a precedent that could lead to further demands for change.
Unrecognized Status and Future Plans
RIT Against ICE’s unrecognized status as a campus group has complicated its ability to organize on-campus events. The group argues that official recognition would limit its ability to endorse other non-school-sanctioned events, campaigns, and organizations. Grant points to the ICE Breakers event as an example, noting that it changed from being a student club event to an administration-run event, which allowed the administration to control what the panel speakers could say.
Looking ahead, RIT Against ICE organizers plan to continue their campaign into the fall semester. Grant emphasizes the importance of becoming a more visible presence in student life to achieve broader goals of campus democratization. “We’re going to make it part of the culture,” he says. “We’re not just going to be a political campaign. We’re going to be having fun events where people can come and talk about it and make it a communal activity.”
