SGA passed a resolution calling for increased protections for students in response to stricter immigration enforcement efforts at a Feb. 25 SGA meeting.
In recent weeks, staff and faculty unions called on UVM to introduce similar protections for the campus community. The University also held an educational event to address uncertainty in the face of recent Trump executive orders.
“The main goal is to increase the support and uplift the communities that need support,” said junior Catherine Jones, chair of the Committee on Student Action and Wellbeing.
The resolution calls on UVM to refrain from sharing any personal information that could identify an individual to federal agents or agencies should it be requested.
Public institutions are prohibited from giving out students’ personal records without their consent to any federal agent without a proper warrant, according to the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
“This is not to say that UVM is not already following guidelines with further policies — it is saying that there were changes to the current situation in which there may be elements added to those conversations,” Jones said.
Junior Emily Garcia, chair of the Committee on Legislative and Community Affairs and a sponsor of the resolution, said she is expecting an increased presence of federal agents in Burlington due to the Trump administration’s increased focus on immigration and the University’s proximity to the Canadian border.
A previous resolution calling for UVM administration to develop protections for students, faculty and staff was tabled at the two previous meetings to give the sponsors more time to work on the details, according to sophomore SGA speaker Kennedy Connors.
That resolution was indefinitely tabled at the Feb. 25 meeting, with the new resolution introduced in its place.
The first resolution was inspired by the unions on campus calling on UVM to protect students, staff and faculty in a letter to Interim President Patricia Prelock, Jones said.
With the new resolution, instead of echoing the union’s letter, the sponsors decided to create a piece of legislation that was more authentic to their role and purpose with their own intentions behind it, Jones said.
“It is not to say that we are, by any means, opposing those who formed that letter,” Jones said. “It is just simply to say that we’re student representatives, and we want to make sure that we’re representing students with our words and actions.”
Staff were included in the first resolution but purposefully excluded from the final version of the resolution, Garcia said.
“We as SGA are committed to students, and our responsibility is to serve students,” Garcia said. “Obviously, any protections we discuss further with administration, we will work to extend them to staff as well.”
Staff have their own council and union that have been advocating for themselves and the issues they feel are important regarding them in their own discussions, Garcia said.
“The university remains committed to supporting our students and employees and the vital work, research and learning in which they engage, and ensuring that our values and mission are at the forefront of our decisions,” said Adam White, executive director of University communications.
The University created a federal actions webpage to provide information and resources to the UVM community, White said.
When creating the resolution, the committee aimed to keep it as unbiased as possible — the main concern was protecting students, said sophomore Rubi Espejo, chair of the Committee on Common Ground Values.
The Committee on Common Ground Values was previously known as the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. The name was changed at the Feb. 25 meeting as a precautionary measure in response to the nature of some of the executive orders from the Trump administration.
“Just because an issue or topic is political in nature doesn’t mean that it has to be partisan in solution,” Jones said.
