Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which is not an officially recognized club on campus, held a rally on the sidewalk outside the Lincoln Center campus on April 24. The rally was in protest of student visas being revoked across the country, including four students at Fordham University. The Fordham students all had their visas restored by April 27.

At its peak, five students and six NYPD officers were present at the event, which lasted less than an hour. 

The rally started with a moment of silence for Pope Francis, who died on April 21. The students discussed Francis’ support for immigrants and said he would not have supported revoking international student visas. 

The students then placed a sign that read “this is an encampment.” No tents were present at the rally. 

They continued to speak on the topic of immigration before they said that their encampment was a “red herring” and an attempt to “waste the NYPD’s time” and distract them from encampments occurring elsewhere in NYC.

Columbia University students planned to hold an encampment on the same day, according to the Columbia Public Safety website. However, the encampment did not occur. There were no reports of other encampments in NYC.

During the rally, SJP members called on other Fordham students to join their cause next fall. They said this would be their last demonstration for the semester. The event concluded with a keffiyeh sale by SJP members.