|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Last week, it was announced that former President Donald Trump would be attending Saturday’s highly-anticipated college football matchup between the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide and the University of Georgia’s Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. This will be Trump’s second visit to Bryant-Denny after he attended a matchup between UA and LSU in 2019. It is also expected that U.S. Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville will be attending.
Following the announcement of Trump’s visit, UA College Democrats — the largest political organization at the University, which is officially chartered through College Democrats of America and the Alabama College Democrats State Federation — sent out a press release Tuesday night, announcing their plans to use Saturday’s festivities as an opportunity to protest the former president.
The press release is titled “Donald Trump is not Welcome Here.”
“UA College Democrats, in conjunction with Bama Students for Harris-Walz and other liberal and progressive leaders from across Tuscaloosa, will be on site at the Quad for College Gameday for the highly-anticipated football game between the #2 Georgia Bulldogs and the #4 Alabama Crimson Tide,” it reads.
“It will serve as a forum for UA students and the Tuscaloosa community to express our vocal distaste for former President Donald Trump, his dangerous rhetoric and promises, and his decision to try to turn this pivotal matchup into a glorified campaign rally,” it continues.
UACD then describes their attempts to organize a formal rally in opposition to Trump “and his radical Project 2025 agenda” ahead of the game. However, “for reasons both understandable and downright inexcusable, the Office of Student Life wanted to move us to a construction site where, due to the guaranteed presence of MAGA forces, our members’ safety and security would have been placed under direct threat.”
Instead of holding a rally, UACD is now planning to host a tailgate in conjunction with other student organizations, including Bama Students for Harris-Walz and UA’s Planned Parenthood Generation Action, where they will have “food, drinks, and various forms of merchandise available for tailgaters
who oppose Donald Trump’s presence on our campus.”
According to the press release, “UACD will also be chalking campus and posting anti-Trump flyers and rally posters across campus this week.”
It continues: “Despite the fact that the silent majority on this campus and across this nation has been pushed around by MAGA forces and their sympathizers, the fact of the matter is that Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans have lost every contested election on campus since 2017.”
“We will ensure that their streak of failure continues in November,” it reads in closing.
The University reached out to APR with a statement responding to UACD’s press release.
“As part of a commitment to free and open inquiry and expression, UA encourages responsible deliberation and debate on campus. The University has facilitated numerous opportunities for members of our community to express differing points of view, including protests this week,” it reads.
“The protest areas the student group requested were unavailable Friday evening for the projected crowd size, including the original request for an area on the Quad, which is a location always reserved for game day setup, tailgate preparations and UA operations,” it continues. “Campus is anticipating higher than normal attendance and activities for game day, presenting unique challenges and limiting available space.”
“UA staff worked with the organizers and approved the protest to be in a visible location on University Boulevard (in the open grassy area between the University Medical Center and Pi Kappa Phi house) away from Friday’s game day operations. This location is not a construction site and is not expected to put students in harm’s way,” according to the statement. “The student organizers did not express safety concerns about the location to University staff. All decisions regarding events and protests are made with the safety of campus and event participants as the highest priority, and registered student organizations are always informed upfront that requested locations might be unavailable.”
The statement goes on to note that “As with any protest, University staff and UAPD would be on site to share expectations and guidance for a responsible, peaceful event and offer security. Activities and events on campus must comply with applicable laws and University policies. UA staff are open to continuing conversations with the organizers to mitigate concerns.”
Saturday’s events are certain to be highly publicized, with ESPN’s College Gameday covering the matchup live from UA’s campus in addition to the media attention that is already being drawn by the former president’s planned visit.
