Notre Dame students and staff weigh in on protests

Anti-Trump protests continue across the country. Thursday we are following local efforts here in Michiana and ABC 57 News spoke to the organizer of Wednesday’s protest at Notre Dame.  

“I think it’s been a very long time since we’ve seen this much upset over a presidential election,” says Linda Przybyszewski, Notre Dame History Professor

This much upset, causing protests in major cities across the country and right here in Michana.

Protesters chanted ‘love is more powerful than hate! Love is more powerful than hate!’

The voice leading the pack of students throughout the Notre Dame campus on Wednesday was senior Jessica Pedroza.

“A lot of people just need to hear that they are loved and that they are valued and that they are welcome here at the university,” said Pedroza.

Giving students the space to share their fears, “This is a safe space and you’re free to come up and say something.”

“We do not want to be separated from our families,” said a protester.

Pedroza notes just how many students are considered a minority. “Notre Dame has a lot of students that are undocumented, that are part of the LGBTQ community, Muslim students, a lot of students that identify with those groups that Trump has attacked.”

So the students built a wall of their own.

“To rival Trump’s wall. It was going to be a wall of love and a wall in defiance of all of the hatred that is contaminating the nation right now,” adds Pedroza

“If you think you deserve something else then I think you should take action, whether that’s writing letters, whether that’s getting out with a sign and protesting, it’s a democracy take part in it,” said Przybyszewski.

The professor says it’s been over 200 years since an election has caused this much of an upset. she says she’s happy to see the university’s students taking an active role. “They’re a sign of people expecting their democracy to respond to them, to their desire to be a part of the process.”