Hopefully the First State's Schools Won't Be the Last to Speak
I held off publishing this yesterday, because I needed to be very clear. And now, with the news of Harvard’s standoff with Trump, I see it would’ve been premature.
With an overwhelming build-up of emotion (outrage, mostly), I was ready to find ways to publicly ask Delaware's Department of Education, universities, and schools why they have not issued any statement of support for students and families amid the thousands of enforcement arrests happening right now— 32,809 as of March 13, 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security. And that number has surely grown. We’re halfway through April.
It has been disheartening—and infuriating—to watch Delaware schools sit idly by without even the slightest blanket statement that says, “Hey, we’re aware there’s some crazy shit going on, and we are going to stand by and do our best to protect our students and families.”
Perhaps not in those exact words—but you get the point.
I was completely unaware and stunned to learn that Harvard University—just yesterday—was the first and only university to speak out in support of their students' rights and freedoms in the midst of the illegal arrests and deportations taking place under the Trump regime.
So yes, I’m glad they finally did that. But why has it taken this long? And why isn’t anyone pointing out how insane it is that they are facing persecution for calling something what it actually is—illegal?
We cannot keep trying to redefine definitions, rewrite meaning, or bend logic. It won’t work. I’ll call it out every time it happens, because it is not normal.
Look—if you give a dictator an inch, he’ll take your entire colony. We’ve seen this with Great Britain and Germany in the late 1930s.
So the threat to revoke federal grants and funds (which is coercion, by the way) for speaking out or refusing to comply with illegal demands? It’s null and void.
Because let me tell you: it doesn’t matter. Whether you give a dictator carte blanche or decide to go to war with him— history has already shown us the consequences. The irony is that the Trump regime is bullying federal agencies under the guise of fighting antisemitism and discrimination.
Thanks to Hitler, we know how it ends— even when you comply. Spoiler alert: you still lose.
Columbia University got to experience that loss firsthand because they made the wrong decision—bargaining with an aspiring fascist.
On March 8, 2025, one day after the Trump regime announced that it was revoking $400 million in federal funding from Columbia (again, under the guise of antisemitism), they illegally arrested Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil.
Columbia made a poor decision to concede, almost enthusiastically, in hopes that they would make daddy Trump proud and be able to reclaim their stolen funds— but now they look foolish, scrambling instead, to reclaim their integrity.
Because just yesterday, Harvard finally broke the silence. Now, Columbia is trying to clean up the mess it created with a half-hearted new statement.
So, yes—it makes more sense now why Delaware’s DOE has remained fearfully silent.
However, Federal educational institutions have a duty to uphold. According to Delaware’s DOE, part of that mission is to educate and to provide safe, healthy environments conducive to learning.
Refusing to acknowledge that children, students, and families—members of our communities—are being targeted and disappeared is abhorrent.
Last week, it was reported that eight University of Delaware students had their green cards revoked. We’re still anxiously waiting for details— because it wouldn’t be a Trump regime without a complete lack of transparency. But we’ve already seen what they do: they make false accusations, detain people, and send them to detention centers and internationally condemned prisons.
Despite the daily threats posed by the American regime, we still live in a democracy.
Educational institutions should be the first to understand just how severe this moment is.
The revocation of academic grants and funds on the basis of refusal to follow the demands placed on an institution by the executive branch of government is not lawful. It’s actually coercion, which is—you guessed it—another crime!
We have not overturned the authoritarian stone just yet. There is still time to fight. To continue our democracy, we must all take a stand.
The Delaware branch of the ACLU has already asked nicely. And I’m just one person— but I promise you, there are more of us coming.
So, Delaware: I implore you to stand up for what’s right—and what’s just.
Your silence enables cruelty.
It normalizes injustice.
And you will have to reckon with the proverbial consequences when your time comes.
You have a duty to the students, families, and communities you serve. It’s time to stop being afraid—because a whole community stands with you. And with democracy.
The threat to our students and families is real.
Don’t wait until the last minute to make a statement— because when it’s your turn, your shame will be louder than the silence.