GRIFFITH, IN – Students from grades 9-12 engaged in a student-organized walkout on Feb. 12 next to the football field to voice opposition to ongoing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities.
The walkout – officially called a “peaceful awareness walk” in a Schoology address posted at 10:28 AM by Griffith Public Schools Superintendent Leah Dumezich – was permitted by school administration. Students participating in the walkout gathered at Door C and walked to the corner of Raymond and Elm streets at 10:10 AM during the lunch/advisory block as avoid missing instructional class time. Those who missed the first lunch caught the second lunch.
The walkout was organized by junior Peyton Conner and seniors Ricky Guajardo, Xiomara Reyes, Jeremiah Fuentes, and Janae Nolan. A meeting that morning originally planned for the walkout to take place on Feb. 13, or in the following week of Feb. 16, but was pushed forward by administration to take place less than two hours later, citing safety concerns. Despite the short notice, over 115 students joined the movement.
Reyes’s personal ties to the walkout were some of many similar stories from other students. She stated, “I’ve never been ashamed of who I am, coming from a family of immigrants who have been directly affected by ICE and immigration policies, so this protest was so much more personal to me.”
Students marching down the sidewalk held up posters, chanted phrases, and raised a Mexican flag in the brisk air of the cloudy Thursday morning. As the crowd stopped at the corner of the block, some cars driving by honked in approval, and a few residents peeked outside to survey the commotion – a scene rare for Griffith.
Nolan said, “I felt so proud to be at a school where everyone wanted to share the same message: that love is more powerful than hate.”
Other schools in Northwest Indiana (NWI) that had student walkouts include East Chicago Central (Feb. 6), Hammond Central (Feb. 9), Portage High School (Feb. 12), and Munster High School (Feb. 12), although the official location of the fourth was inside of the MHS Fieldhouse.
Walkout efforts have been more intense towards the Indianapolis area, with large high schools like Carmel, Westfield, and Avon participating, as well as universities such as Purdue University, Indiana University, and Ball State University.
Griffith’s walkout has garnered mixed responses across social media. On sites such as Instagram, which have a higher concentration of teenagers, opinions tended to be more supportive, with some students expressing their frustration at being forced to only stay on the corner of the block.
However, on sites like Facebook with a larger userbase of Griffith community members, the backlash was much more intense. Many users challenged the students’ decision to walk out during school hours and called administrators’ judgement into question for allowing the event.
The school board released their statement at the school board meeting that evening: “GPS does not take a political position on this matter. This was a controlled environment with no profanity, no injury, and lasted ten minutes before students returned calmly and safely back into the building.”
