MVHS students staged a walkout from their fifth-period classes on Wednesday, Feb. 4, to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Donald Trump and the federal immigration policies. The walkout began at the start of fifth period and lasted until 1:10 p.m. Accompanied by MVHS staff members, students walked to Cupertino City Hall, carrying handmade signs and posters while repeating chants such as “We want justice, we want rights, we want ICE out of our sight,” and “When fascists attack, we fight back.”
Once the MVHS protesters reached Cupertino City Hall, many students, including juniors Radhika Dharmapurikar, Aeshna Chatterji and Divina Pandita-Raina; and seniors Lauren Moore and Shiva Chaganti, gave speeches, continued to chant and encouraged others to voice their opinions on ICE and immigration policy. The protesters were also met by FUHSD Board of Trustees President Stanley Kou, who delivered a short speech expressing his appreciation for the students who participated in the walkout.
“I fully support the students’ voice,” Kou said. “As adults, we really need to focus on our students’ voices as a priority. Most of our board members are immigrants, including second- or third-generation immigrants, and we always support newcomers. I was a newcomer 30 years ago, and this country is an immigrant country. I’m so proud of our MVHS students doing this [walkout] today.”
Kou also recognizes the MVHS staff who followed students for safety reasons. Music teacher Lofn Young, one of the staff members who followed the protest, explains that MVHS staff received emails from the district office and Principal Ben Clausnitzer ahead of the walkout. Young says these emails contained different policies and plans for prioritizing student safety, ensuring that the school was prepared to protect during the walkout.
“I wanted to join the walkout when I heard that the movement was going off campus,” Young said. “I wanted to do what I could to make sure that our students stayed safe while they exercise their freedoms. I think this is just as much our students’ world as it is everyone else’s, and it’s important for them to exercise those freedoms that they have as people.”
Protester and junior Ruqayyah Harb explains that after hearing about the walkout through social media posts, she decided to participate by leaving her fifth period class with an excused absence under SB 955 — a California Senate bill that allows one day of excused absence for civic or political engagement. Harb explains that she has wanted to protest ICE for a while, and expressed appreciation towards the students who organized the walkout.
“This specific walkout mattered to me so much,” Harb said. “The fact that this was student-led and organized by people at my school was why I really wanted to support it. I wanted to show the students how much I appreciate them taking the risk to organize such a protest. We have a responsibility to show up for people, especially oppressed people in our nation and in our world. There is so much injustice and the least we can do is show our support and our solidarity through small symbolic acts of protest and resistance.”
