A protester holds a sign quoting science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler. Photo by Murat Demir.
Approximately 100 protesters gathered outside the UAA Consortium Library on March 4 to celebrate diversity and voice dissent against the UA Board of Regents' motion to discontinue language and practices related to DEI at UAA, UAF and UAS.
Protesters faced traffic on Providence Drive near the front entrance of the library, chanting “celebrate diversity.” Many cars honked their horns as they passed.
University police were spotted near the protest.
Ryan Buchholdt, vice chancellor for administrative services at UAA, was seen watching the protest from a distance. The Northern Light reached out to Buchholdt for comment afterward but received no response.
The Northern Light spoke with librarian Deborah Mole, who helped organize the protest.
Mole said she was shocked by the Board of Regents' motion and realized the need to physically gather together as a community to demonstrate the importance of diversity.
“If they start taking away language that supports inclusivity and celebrates the differences we bring to this community, then where does it go from there?” she said.
Gus Barber, a graduate student attending the protest said, “The most vulnerable among us are like always going to be targeted first, and we're here to make sure that no one is targeted — if anybody is, we all are.”
Angelica Firmin, an Alaska Native studies major, said, “Diversity is really important and that's what makes me feel safe on campus and makes me feel protected on campus.”
“Well, I'm really worried about, first of all, just the environment and like, what's gonna be said. That always worries me, especially as a Native person, I feel very invisible at times, and a lot of people don't realize what hurtful rhetoric they're using,” said Firmin.
Firmin voiced apprehension about the future of research at the university.
“I'm a researcher myself, and I don't really, I don't know if I'm going to be able to get my Ph.D. at this point with the topics that I want to look into.”
The university assessed and removed terms related to DEI from its webpages and program titles since the motion, according to previous reporting by The Northern Light.
The board’s motion followed an executive order signed by President Trump directing government institutions to eliminate “Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs” and a letter from the U.S. Department of Education regarding DEI.
Earlier that morning, President Trump shared a post on Truth Social that stated federal funding would be cut for any university that “allows illegal protests,” adding that “agitators” would face imprisonment or deportation.
This report is part of an investigative series on recent changes related to DEI at UAA and will be followed by additional coverage.
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