Working People6 Nov 2025

Campus life is unrecognizable in the Trump era: 'There's so many cops everywhere'

Life on college campuses has changed dramatically in the last 10 months. While institutions of higher education continue to reel from the Trump administration's top-down attacks and scramble to adjust, workers on campus say that their universities are simultaneously expanding their own internal repression and surveillance apparatuses to squash dissent. In this episode, we speak with a panel of graduate student workers and union members from Columbia University and the University of Michigan about the chilling new reality on their campuses and what it's like to live, learn, and work there today.

Panelists include; Vayne, a PhD candidate in history at Columbia University and a member of the bargaining committee for Student Workers of Columbia; Conlan Olson, a PhD student in computer science at Columbia University and a member of the bargaining committee for Student Workers of Columbia; Jared Eno, a grad worker in sociology and public policy at the University of Michigan and a rank-and-file member of the Graduate Employees Organization.

Additional links/info:

Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page
Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page
Email zap info: "Reject UMPD's attack on anti-genocide activists!"
Glenn Hedin & Barrett Dolata, The Michigan Daily, "Three pro-Palestine activists arrested for protesting speech given by former Israeli soldiers"
Student Workers of Columbia press release: "Columbia threatens discipline for union picket, extends repression to labor action"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'The raids happened Wednesday, finals started Thursday': FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities"

Credits:

Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

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