Nick DiCicco

Nick DiCicco, Staff Writer

February 4, 2026

Rowan graphic. (Former Graphics Editor / Brendan Cohen)

In the aftermath of a peaceful interaction between student protesters and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recruiters, questions about the University’s responsibility in such situations remain. 

After reopening from the snowstorm on Tuesday, Jan. 27, rumors of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence on campus circulated due to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recruiters in the William Rohrer College of Business. The recruiters were employees of the DHS Office of Trade Regulatory Audit Team, a section of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to Kevin Koett, the dean of students and vice chancellor of student life, the group has recruited on campus multiple times and went through the proper channels to do so. 

“The group that was here trying to recruit auditors for an office in Philadelphia, they’ve been coming for over a decade,” Koett said. “That’s going to go through the individual colleges.” 

After hearing of DHS recruitment on campus, a leading member of Rowan Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP) rallied the organization together and went to the business hall to peacefully protest the decision to host DHS recruiters and distribute flyers for their upcoming demonstration.

“When I first saw the email, I understood that it was not ICE right, like I get it, this is not immigration enforcement agents coming to our campus,” the leading member said. “But part of me wants to say it was a tone deaf and thoughtless decision.”

The police and Koett were called shortly after the protest started. 

“We were told by the police officers who walked up to us as we were congregating that the building manager had told them that we were causing a ruckus, that we were being disruptive, and had the potential to get out of control,” said a member of SJP and Rowan Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). “We calmly articulated that that was not the case, and we were handing out flyers and not obstructing any things that were happening in the building.”

After talking with the students and police, Koett concluded that the students were able to continue their protest. 

“All parties were very receptive, very respectful,” Koett said. “From what I saw, nobody was doing anything that was out of line.” 

A notification of the group’s presence on campus was sent via email to business students from the Rohrer Center for Professional Development. Despite this, the SJP and YDSA members said the university should have notified all students due to unrest because of the recent shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration enforcement in Minnesota. 

“I thought it was a deliberate choice by the university to limit that to business students, because clearly there a very specific reason why they would limit that email audit to business students, not just because there’s more of an apathy towards the question, the moral question of DHS and its presence on the college campus with international students,” the member said. “Limiting access to the general public of Rowan students was a deliberate choice so that the university could essentially just not let the PR affect them, but this one slipped out of the cracks.”

Despite pushback from SJP members, Koett clarified that the individual colleges and experts inside the colleges are in charge of reaching out and hearing from recruitment groups, and that the university balances how students feel, but also has a responsibility to offer employment opportunities to all students. 

“We absolutely understand that there are lots of scary things that are happening. So we have ways to help,” Koett said. “As far as notifying people, what we run the danger of is the moment we say, ‘Okay, we’re gonna share to the community that this group’s on campus. Why didn’t you tell me that this group is on campus, or that group is on campus?” 

Although university protocol requires that external law enforcement, including immigration enforcement, must contact the Rowan Police before conducting enforcement on campus, rumors of ICE on campus have been recurring. Unsubstantiated claims of students being stopped by the DHS recruiters, asking for proof of citizenship, have been circulating. 

“We’ve got to be careful of what I call ‘the TikTok world’. They’re so quick to want to be the first to say, ‘Oh, this is happening.’ You just gotta take that moment to do a fact check,” Koett said. “Just because a law enforcement agency might be doing something on campus or in the area doesn’t mean it’s ICE. It doesn’t mean it’s negative.”