Julie Dermansky /Photojournalist

Katie Schwartzmann, Director of Tulane's First Amendment Clinic, speaking on behalf of herself, not as a representative of the university, speaking at a "Hands Off!” protest rally In New Orleans, that was one of more than 1,200 actions across the United States to oppose President Trump’s policies. "Just yesterday, the administration issued a new list of demands to Harvard that demands that Harvard clarify its free speech policies, review, certain departments change their admissions and DEI policies, and we need to be clear-eyed about what this is. It's not about higher education. It's about punishing and criminalizing dissent from whatever corner it comes. And we know that that's what this is about. Because at the same time that we're seeing this attack on higher education, we're seeing an attack on lawyers and law firms and the fabric of our federal courts, all of which are necessary to the defense of student protestors, faculty, academic freedom. All of you. We are witnessing the silencing of dissent through intimidation. And one of our most sacred values as a nation is that you can speak your mind without fear that you'll be arrested or locked up or deported. It is critical to the fabric of our democracy that the government cannot tell you what ideas you can discuss, what topics you can explore, or whether you can dissent -And one of the most critical places for that exchange of ideas and for that descent are our college campuses and universities. So hands off our universities,” Schwartzmann said.