Nick DiCicco

Nick DiCicco, Staff Writer

March 11, 2026

Rowan YDSA co-chair Jimmy Flocco leads the march outside Business Hall. Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Glassboro, N.J. (Staff Writer / Nick DiCicco)

Rowan students and clubs gathered for their second protest within a month, demanding that the University “Keep Killers Off Campus.” 

The protest was held on March 10, two weeks after the organizers, Rowan Student Justice for Palestine (SJP), and the Rowan chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) sent a letter to Rowan University President Dr. Ali Houshmand, the Rohrer College of Business, and “all offices relating to the provision of student career services.”

In the letter, SJP and YDSA members called upon the university not to allow the DHS offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) on campus in enforcement or recruitment roles. The letter was sent about a month after DHS auditory recruiters visited the campus.

“ICE is not a rogue agent; it is working to carry out the goals of DHS through fear, violence, and aggression – and the administrative roles of DHS make these operations possible,” the letter said. “The blood on the hands of ICE is also on the hands of those supporting them behind the scenes.” 

The Dean of Students, Kevin Koett, was a recipient of the letter and responded on March 4, after a follow-up email was sent the same day. Koett offered to meet with the organizations in regard to the demands and watched the protest to listen to the students’ concerns. 

“I don’t just come out here to be my role as Dean, I actually listen to what they’re saying,” said Koett. “I respect the students’ rights to express their opinions and express their thoughts. I’ll protect that until the day I die.” 

Despite Koett’s response on March 4, Jimmy Flocco, co-chair of YDSA, raised concerns over the University’s lack of response to the initial email, which demanded a response by March 2. 

“The reason why we are agitating more around it is because there was no response from administrators to our initial call,” said Flocco. “They completely ignored us, and they do not take us seriously, and there has always been a capacity for underestimation by administrators of our organizers and the student body in general.”

The protest started at Business Hall, but protesters marched to Bunce Hall, stopping at the Owl Statue and the Chamberlain Student Center along the way. Students gave speeches, read poems, and chanted as they walked and stopped. 

Nour Raja, a sophomore law and justice student, joined the protest after a midterm, and said that he attended the protest due to injustices he saw happening, and that students should keep protesting if the University does not change. 

“We’re gonna keep coming out here. We’re gonna do everything to the best of our abilities, and protest, and petition, and if you gotta, get into screaming in people’s faces,” said Raja. “Nobody wants to scream in another person’s face, but if it’s gonna take that, then we gotta do it, you know?” 

Along with protesting DHS offices, students also gathered in solidarity with Palestine, protested Rowan’s partnership with Lockheed Martin, and protested the recent announcement of Rowan’s $690 million West Campus Project.

While protesters claimed that the project would raise tuition and take focus away from necessary changes on the main campus, Koett said that is not the case.

“When they were talking about West Campus, not a penny of that is Rowan money,” Koett said. “Yet it’s gonna create internships, jobs for students, it’s gonna create opportunities for you as students without increasing the tuition.”

Despite the hot weather, the protest lasted roughly three hours with upwards of forty protesters. 

Flocco said he plans to keep organizing and do as many protests and events as possible, in order to continue to demand change from the University. 

“Rowan University cares deeply about its public image,” said Flocco. “Striking and creating change at Rowan University specifically is to target that public image, that we need to change things by making sure people know that Rowan is associated with blood money.”