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Close to 300 protestors held a peaceful rally on the East Carolina University (ECU) campus in Greenville on Saturday, April 5. They joined millions across the country in a day of “Hands Off!” protests against the Trump administration. 

In just nine short days, ECU senior Allison Clemmer, was able to coordinate the campus event, with the help of ECU Vice Chancellor of Students Affairs. “This was not intended to be a partisan event,” said Clemmer. “There was a bigger message as a lot of us are feeling helpless in this current environment. I wanted to elicit a sense of hope by bringing people together and allowing them to feel like they can make a change, even if they are baby steps. It all still feels sort of surreal.”

Several Washington residents made the trip to Greenville for the rally. Reverend Chris Adams, Rector at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington, was also in attendance. “Joining my wife, Julia, and me was our son who is just 12 years old,” said Adams. “Since the world being made and remade now is one he will inherit, it has become even more important for us that he have opportunities to engage political activism in his youth. We weren’t exposed to this kind of active citizenship until later, but his voice is important enough to be heard now. Seeing him hold a sign that read “All Are Welcome” made me so proud of him. This is a strange time in the world. With so much uncertainty and pain, joining a collective protest felt like a small but tangible way to put goodness and justice into the world.”

For Julia Clarke, it was a first. “This is the first political rally, or any rally for that matter, that I have ever attended,” said Clarke. “I’m not one to tout my political beliefs out in the open. Typically, only people who I consider good friends know where I stand. But in the last few months, after bouts of disbelief, sadness, shock, and fear, I won’t stand on the sidelines and do or say nothing, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me feel.”

PBS News reported that “more than 1,200 ‘Hands Off!’ demonstrations were planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. The protest sites included the National Mall in Washington, D.C., state capitols and other locations in all 50 states. Protesters assailed the Trump administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut federal funding for health programs.”