In February, a small group of RIT students and staff banded together to form “RIT Against ICE.” The campaign is part of a greater Association of American University Professors (AAUP) “Schools Drop ICE” initiative designed to persuade universities to cut ties with ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement).

RIT Against ICE specifically aims to convince RIT administration to sever business relations with the hospitality chain Hilton — a company which has described itself as “a welcoming place for all” referring to ICE agents — and Enterprise, a primary provider of ICE’s vehicles and one of RIT’s designated rental car companies. According to a post on the @ritagainstice official Instagram account, Hilton and RIT have a pricing contract allowing certain Hilton locations to offer lower rates to RIT visitors.

While RIT Against ICE has been received positively by a significant portion of the RIT community, members of the campaign describe experiencing friction with RIT Public Safety.

RIT Against ICE’s Experience with Public Safety

A video posted by @ritagainstice shows two student organizers — second year Photographic Sciences student, Chad Grant, and fourth year Game Design and Development major, Zach Jordan — being stopped by Public Safety officers while Jordan walked around Imagine RIT 2026 wearing a sign with a QR code to their petition.

In the video, one officer explains they are responding to reports alleging the two were “stopping people.” Grant and Jordan deny this allegation and were not shown to be stopping guests in their video prior to the run-in. After showing the officers their student IDs upon request, another officer tells them that they cannot walk around with their sign indoors per “events policy.” The two were then informed that they could continue their activity as long as they did not approach anyone.

Jordan noted he was unable to find the referenced event policy, but that there is a policy barring protests from occurring indoors. He does not believe he was protesting when he was stopped by Public Safety.

“It was akin to wearing a t-shirt that had a QR code. That’s all it was really,” he added.

Grant and Jordan called the interaction an “intimidation tactic,” pointing out that about five or six officers surrounded only two people.

“If we did actually do something wrong, they would have brought a charge against us under RIT rules. The reason they didn’t is because we didn’t break a rule,” said Grant.

According to Grant and Jordan, after Imagine RIT, Public Safety visited other members of RIT Against ICE at their campus apartments. They described this as another potential intimidation tactic.

RIT’s Response

Bob Finnerty, Associate Vice President of University Communications, shared a written statement about the incident at Imagine RIT on behalf of Public Safety and RIT administration. He began by clarifying that Grant and Jordan had not broken any RIT policies.

“In situations involving expressive activity, students may then be provided guidance regarding location, noise levels, access to facilities, disruption of university operations, and other considerations outlined in RIT’s freedom of expression procedures. These are commonly known as time, place, and manner guidelines.

“Providing this information should not be interpreted as a determination that a policy violation has occurred. In most cases, it is simply part of the university’s effort to support expressive activity while balancing its responsibilities to the broader campus community,” Finnerty explained.

He finished by adding that “the fact that university personnel engage with students participating in expressive activity should not be interpreted as evidence that a complaint was made or that a policy violation occurred.”

Finnerty encourages students to review RIT’s Freedom of Speech and Expression Procedures and reach out to Kathryn Cilano, Director of the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, with any questions.

Campaign Goals

Despite the reportedly negative interaction with Public Safety, RIT Against ICE intends to continue its campaign.

Grant explained that a long-term goal is “achieving a world in which the majors that tech students receive don’t have to go towards inhumane companies.” Jordan stated that in the meantime, the campaign will focus on building more support.

Jordan also shared that RIT Against ICE plans to meet with the RIT administration once they amass 4,000 signatures on their petition. Grant and Jordan explained that by the end of the school year, they would like to see an official statement from RIT regarding the petition, but expressed some doubt about whether it is likely to happen.

“I don’t think it’s in RIT’s current nature to do so, considering their strategic outline for the next few years of their financial and growth plan effectively rests on preventing controversy in the political scene, especially in order to receive federal funding for research,” Grant said.

Jordan agreed and added that he hopes that as the movement grows in support, it becomes impossible for administrators to ignore.