Last October, Dickinson’s newly created chapter of Amnesty International, an international human rights organization. introduced a resolution, ‘Firewall for Freedom,’ to Student Senate, advocating for increased protections for international students on campus. However, since introducing the resolution, the organization has faced pushback from college administration.
President John E. Jones described the resolution as “superfluous and unnecessary” because the College has already established protocols with the Department of Public Safety and general counsel to respond to federal immigration action, and warned that formal adoption could “attract unwanted attention from federal authorities.”
Vincent Champion, Vice President and General Counsel, wrote to The Dickinsonian that his office is “closely monitoring governmental policies and activities that may impact our campus community and to help plan accordingly.” They seek to ensure “that our actions align with the mission of the college and comply with applicable law.”
According to Amnesty International’s website, the organization’s mission is to “fight injustice and protect human rights worldwide.” At Dickinson, the club has translated this mission into campus-specific advocacy, focusing on protecting students whose rights may be at risk. Executive Member Eleanor Moose ’27, who has been involved with Amnesty International since high school and previously served on the organization’s Youth Collective board, described the chapter’s approach as both educational and a way to make change through action. “A big thing for us is coalition building,” Moose said, emphasizing the importance of making student concerns visible at the institutional level.
That, according to Moose, is the goal of the resolution, which emerged from increased concerns about international students on campus, who could face consequences for exercising their legal, constitutional rights stemming from the rise of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity since Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Club President Sofia Porco ’26 explained how the proposal was designed to reassure students that their rights to free speech and freedom of expression are protected and supported by the college administration.
Despite claims that the resolution is “adversarial,” Porco contended that it “is in no way adversarial, in no way personal, and in no way an obstruction of justice.” Rather, the measure was directly modeled on guidance from the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International’s national “Firewall for Freedom” initiative, which endeavors to implement increased protections for international students in schools across the country.
The “Firewall for Freedom” resolution directly calls for Dickinson to reaffirm its commitment to not voluntarily provide information “to any request from federal, state, or out-of-state authorities” without a valid judicial warrant, court order, or subpoena. It also cites students’ First and Fourteenth Amendment protections.
Before the resolution could be formally debated, it first needed to be sponsored by two Senators to be added to the Senate agenda. Senators Daniel Villa ’27, Meghan Lord ’27, and Aditi Bhargava ’28 sponsored the resolution, according to Porco, it never reached the agenda.
Jones instructed Student Senate President Clara Blackwell ’26 to communicate that the resolution would not receive support.
“The process of it all was super confusing,” Fi explained. “It got sponsored and was circulating in admin circles and Senate exec circles, but never reached the agenda before President Jones said he would not be in support, so the Senate never had the chance to vote on it or even table it.” With only two Senate meetings left in the semester, Amnesty International decided to amend the resolution to make it Dickinson-specific and plan to reintroduce it this semester. “This isn’t just for show for just one issue, we’re making an example to show the ability to initiate concrete change when you actually talk about it,” said Porco. “We’re determined to get it done.”
While Amnesty International prepares to reintroduce the resolution this semester, Dickinson’s struggle mirrors the challenges faced by student activists at colleges nationwide. In fact, according to Moose, Dickinson may just “fit” a broader pattern in higher education.
In 2023, Amnesty International chapters at other universities sought to implement similar protections for students participating in encampments. Schools including NYU, Harvard and Rutgers encountered similar pushback and ultimately failed to pass student protections.
