On Wednesday, March 11, students entering and exiting Davis Family Library had the chance to pick up Student Government Association (SGA)-produced ‘Know Your Rights’ cards, ask questions and have conversations about student rights and safety on campus. The drop-in table lasted from one to nine p.m. in the Davis foyer and was part of Know Your Rights Day, an event hosted by the SGA and Firewall, a Middlebury student group dedicated to protecting student rights.
To accommodate students’ schedules, organizers structured the event as a casual, drop-in space. The day also featured a Q&A session with immigration lawyer Dan Berger from four to five p.m., accessible both in person and via Zoom.
According to SGA President Nicole Meyers ’26, the event emerged from collaboration between SGA and Firewall following an earlier student government open forum. Firewall members had raised concerns that Know Your Rights cards were not distributed last year, prompting ongoing conversations between the two groups.
For the campaign, Firewall compiled the information included on the cards, which outline students’ rights when interacting with federal law enforcement and provide guidance for encounters with immigration officers on campus. SGA coordinated printing and distribution.
The Davis table was staffed by both SGA and Firewall representatives, creating an opportunity for collaboration and student engagement.
“I think now we’re getting off on a very positive foot, you know, actually taking action, and I think it’s really great that we can come and collaborate on this,” First-Year Senator Dylan McGinty ’29 said.
Organizers said the event aimed to encourage conversations about student rights and provide accessible resources for navigating situations in which students may feel their rights are at risk.
Immigration concerns have become more prominent for some students following the reported terminations of visas and deportations of international students in early 2025.
“I think something that’s happening nationally is that we see a lot of people being too afraid to have conversations,” Laila Almefty-Hernandez ’26, who is involved with Migrant Justice at Middlebury, said. “So, people are isolating themselves with their fears and their anxieties, and I think that different efforts of the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] and Know Your Rights cards in different campaigns like that get these conversations started so people aren’t so afraid by themselves […] And I think it just, like, provides an easy window for conversation.”
Equipping students with knowledge of their rights and resources, such as Know Your Rights cards that they can always carry, ultimately empowers them, according to Meyers.
“One of the big parts for me was making sure that students knew exactly what their response would be if there was a federal immigration official on campus, which there has not been yet,” Meyers said. “So I think for us it was really about just sharing the information as widely as possible. So that way, students feel safer because in this circumstance, particularly, the information will give students more power.”
Moving forward, Know Your Rights cards will continue to be available to pick up in the Anderson Freeman Resource Center (AFC) and the Prism Center. Additionally, through the SGA Immigration Legal Support Fund, a collaboration among Meyers, the SGA Senate, the Student Access Support Grants Office, and immigration lawyers, students can now access up to $1,500 in legal aid and immigration advice.
“Even if it’s uncomfortable to talk about it, I think that at the end of the day, we had a lot of really positive interactions with students. We were very glad. They were like, ‘Oh, we’re so happy that you had these cards out,” Meyers said.
Beyond Know Your Rights Day, SGA and other student groups plan to continue supporting migrant communities. One upcoming initiative is a collaboration between Migrant Justice at Middlebury and Migrant Justice Vermont, scheduled for March 20.
The event will include a farmworker convention, and organizers are seeking student volunteers to assist with childcare and transportation from six to nine p.m.
“We’re trying to find more people to get involved,” Almefty-Hernandez said. “Whether that’s helping with transportation or watching kids while families attend the meeting.”
SGA leaders said they hope to continue collaborating with Firewall and other student organizations to respond to student concerns and expand access to resources.
Editor’s note: Dylan McGinty ’29 is a staff writer for The Campus.
