For weeks, immigration enforcement activity in the Triangle has unsettled workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods. On Duke University’s Abele Quad, that anxiety has taken a visible form. According to The Duke Chronicle, roughly 40 students and community members gathered on Friday afternoon to call on President Vincent Price and senior administrators to declare Duke a “Fourth Amendment Campus” and to establish clearer guidance on how the university will respond if immigration officers enter its spaces.The demonstration was organised by the Sunrise Movement and supported by other student groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine and the Duke Divest Coalition. Protesters carried yellow signs with messages such as “Price: Protect Your Students” and “ICE out of Duke! Fourth Amendment Campus”.Junior Artivista Karlin, speaking to the crowd, addressed President Price directly. “Duke University and President Price: it is your responsibility to protect your workers and to protect your students, to protect the people who make the University what it is”, Karlin said, The Duke Chronicle reports.
A call shaped by local precedents
The demand builds on a model developed by Siembra North Carolina, an immigration and Latino advocacy group. Its campaign for “Fourth Amendment Workplaces” trains employees on what to do when United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers enter a property, including identifying when a warrant is required and the differences between public and private areas. Thirty Durham businesses have adopted the designation, and demonstrators argued that Duke, as one of the largest employers in North Carolina, should follow.The pressure comes after a rise in immigration enforcement across the state. Recently on 18th November, US Customs and Border Protection officers were active in Durham, which led to lower school attendance and workers staying home, The Duke Chronicle reports. This followed “Operation Charlotte’s Web”, a weeklong Customs and Border Protection initiative in Charlotte that led to more than 425 detentions, Durham City Council unanimously declared the city a “Fourth Amendment Workplace” in September. Senior Michael Ramos, who works with Siembra North Carolina, told The Duke Chronicle that he saw no reason why Duke could not make a similar commitment. “We need to follow the example that Durham is setting here at Duke. It is not a big ask, in my opinion”, he said.
A university sector more cautious than before
Although the “Fourth Amendment Workplace” concept remains concentrated in North Carolina, some institutions described themselves as “sanctuary campuses” during Donald Trump’s first administration. This language has been used more sparingly in recent months. Students at the demonstration argued that uncertainty among faculty members reflects the need for clearer internal protocols.Paola Dávila Uzcátegui, a graduate student in the School of Medicine, told The Duke Chronicle that a professor recently admitted not knowing how to respond if immigration enforcement officers appeared in a teaching or clinical environment. “I want professors to be ready. I want Duke to be ready”, she said.Dávila Uzcátegui added that, across Durham, some employers had allowed staff to stay home with pay if they feared immigration activity, while schools had ensured that children received meals and transportation. She argued that Duke should consider similar measures for its own workers.
Concerns about silence and responsibility
Some demonstrators expressed disappointment with a 19 November university email that acknowledged concerns about enforcement activity in Durham. Karlin described the message as “tone-deaf” and criticised the administration’s approach. Quoted by The Duke Chronicle, she said: “The Duke administration’s strategy [of] silence is a form of complicity with fascism and the Trump administration. [His lack of communication] is a sign that President Price is not standing for the students and the workers who make the University what it is. And it is his responsibility as the president of our University to keep us safe and to protect the workers and the students on campus.”Emily Rogers, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology and gender, sexuality and feminist studies, spoke on behalf of Duke’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. She criticised what she described as restrictions on faculty speaking to the media unless discussing their research, a concern also noted in The Duke Chronicle.
A movement built on visibility
The demonstration concluded with students gathered before a giant hand-painted monarch butterfly puppet created by Durham artist Jan Burger of Paperhand Puppet Intervention. Burger told The Duke Chronicle that the butterfly’s long migration symbolised resilience and could serve as a unifying image for those calling for protection.Students closed with a reworked version of the labour song “Which Side Are You On”, altering the refrain to ask President Price to “pick a side or step aside”. Karlin said students intend to continue organising and will hold demonstrations on the first Friday of every month beginning in February.The gathering at Abele Quad did not resolve the question of whether Duke University will adopt the “Fourth Amendment Campus” designation. It did, however, signal a growing expectation among students and faculty that the institution should articulate a clearer stance as immigration enforcement becomes more visible in the region.
