Students gather for “TU End the Secrecy” rally

By Sarah Sternhagen, Editor-in-Chief

Over 70 people gathered in Freedom Square on Wednesday evening for a “TU End the Secrecy” rally. The event called on Towson University to be transparent about the process of divestment and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s presence on campus.

Speakers initiated call-and-response chants and gave speeches to the crowd throughout the two hour event, which was hosted by Towson’s Young Democratic Socialists of America, known as YDSA.

Some attendees held signs in support of Palestine and others held ones denouncing ICE.

The rally joined two of YDSA’s main demands. One, for the university to divest from companies that fund the ongoing conflict in Gaza. And two, to integrate ICE sightings into university alerts and for Towson to commit to non-cooperation with ICE officials. 

In May of 2024 the Student Government Association passed a resolution “urging” the TU Foundation to divest from companies tied to funding the ongoing conflict in Gaza. 

YDSA initially planned to hold the rally in January to keep momentum going amid the Gaza ceasefire. President Davis Payton said YDSA chose to wrap both issues into one event.

“The career fair situation happened and then that made it all the more urgent,” Payton said.

Homeland Security Investigations, which is a division of ICE, was set to attend Towson’s Mega Job and Internship Fair in March. Towson’s Latin American Student Association petitioned against its attendance. Hours before an anti-ICE protest, a Towson spokesperson told The Towerlight in an email that Homeland had chosen to not participate in the career fair. 

First-year Spencer Boutz attended the rally and said he had problems with the lack of communication between Towson and the campus about Homeland’s presence at the career fair.

“I thought it was incredibly dishonest and shady of the university to not inform the students about who was going to be on their campus,” Boutz said.

Fundraising Chair Avery Misterka said YDSA will continue to mobilize.

“We’re demanding student power be recognized,” Misterka said. “And we’re demanding that it be respected.”