Hundreds walk out to join protests

Students accept unexcused absences to have voices heard

Rachel Wolleben
February 16, 2017

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The school bell rings, and as the last period of the day begins, a group of almost two dozen students files out of the main school building and makes its way to the band lot in the afternoon sunshine. They hold up custom-made signs and chant catchy phrases condemning the newly inaugurated president Donald Trump, as assistant principals and counselors quietly escort them to the edge of campus. Pickup trucks flying “TRUMP” flags ride past them on the street, but the group doesn’t stop chanting until it reaches its destination, and members are shocked to see an eager crowd of more than 150 student-protesters.

A group of Mac seniors marches from the fine arts buildings to join an estimated crowd of 150-200 students in the band parking lot. The students walked out at the beginning of fourth period today in order to join the Inauguration Day protests in downtown Austin at Auditorium Shores. The walkout was captured by several local media outlets. The demonstration was coordinated by student leaders with bull horns who instructed the crowd as they proceeded to the Capitol Metro bus stop at Koenig and Lamar. Photo by Gregory James.

“I didn’t even have words to describe how it felt seeing that [crowd],” senior Ta’Tyana Jammer said. “I was at the point of tears honestly because seeing all my peers and other students around me, just hundreds of students walking for the same purpose, is what the McCallum Justice Coalition has been wanting to do, and it’s amazing to see that action.”

On Jan. 20, the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, students walked out of their fourth-period classes to protest the event as well as the president’s policies, cabinet picks and behavior throughout the presidential campaign. After meeting in the band lot, the student-protesters walked to a bus stop on Lamar and Koenig to ride downtown and join a larger protest march at Auditorium Shores.

“I personally chose to walk out because I knew it would send a message,” senior Gabe Erwin said. “It showed my friends, my teachers and my family among others that I was unhappy with Donald Trump becoming our president. I believe in having a president who not only knows how to do his job but also has good moral ethics, and I don’t believe he has either. I also went because this was the beginning of many protests and fights I will be participating in in order to push for a better country.”

After walking out of the beginning of fourth period class, students of an organization called the McCallum Justice Coalition wait at the city bus station at Lamar and Koenig, where they caught the bus to Auditorium Shores to join Inauguration Day protests. As they marched to the bus stop, the students chanted “Love Trumps Hate” and “This is What Democracy Looks Like.” Photo by Madison Olsen.
After walking out of the beginning of fourth period class, students of an organization called the McCallum Justice Coalition wait at the city bus station at Lamar and Koenig, where they caught the bus to Auditorium Shores to join Inauguration Day protests. As they marched to the bus stop, the students chanted “Love Trumps Hate” and “This is What Democracy Looks Like.” Photo by Madison Olsen.

The walkout was organized by a club not yet officially recognized by the school, the McCallum Justice Coalition, led by seniors Grace Schmidhauser, Ta’Tyana Jammer, Henry Epperson, Matthew Weinberg and sophomore Elizabeth Epperson. They held several meetings on campus for members and people interested in the walkout when they established their plan, determined how they expected students to conduct themselves at the protest, and discussed their views on Trump’s inauguration.

“We all [the leaders of the McCallum Justice Coalition] just contributed in so many different ways, and it was awesome,” senior Henry Epperson said. “We knew this inauguration went against everything we valued, and we couldn’t sit back and just let Donald Trump be president. We had to be active. We know there’s going to be dark times ahead, but we’re willing to keep fighting for as long as it takes.”

District officials from AISD were made aware of the McCallum walkout through social media and the circulation of flyers made by the McCallum Justice Coalition, and sent out an automated call to all families of current AISD students the day before the inauguration, discouraging students from leaving campus and informing them that all absences marked because of this event would not be excused.

Photo by Madison Olsen.
Senior Ta’tyana Jammer is one of the student leaders of the McCallum Justice Coalition, the group that organized and coordinated the McCallum walkout on Jan. 20. Photo by Madison Olsen.

“I think showing people that we’re willing to come together and unify made everything worth it,” Henry Epperson said, “especially because I’m a student and I’m going to college soon. I don’t know what it’s going to be like for the future generations of students, and that worries me. I think it’s awesome that we’re trying to represent them, and it’s worth getting an unexcused absence.”

As unified as the opinions on President Trump of those who participated in the walkout appeared, however, not all of the participants shared the same beliefs about his inauguration.

“I didn’t do much chanting or sign holding. I merely went to examine the optics of the event,” senior Sam Carrillo said. “Hearing my community chant ‘not my president’ makes some sense, yet hearing an alternative fact such as that is heartbreaking. We are so divided that the attitude is ‘oppose Trump always’ and that is not where I’m at all. … I’m not an apologist for President Trump, and I don’t endorse his rhetoric. …, [but] Donald J. Trump is my president, and I will let him lead this country. I want him to succeed if this country benefits from his leadership.”

Yet for many of the student marchers, President Trump’s track record of leadership in the past is evidence enough of how he will govern the country in the future.

“I am against everything Trump stands for,” Jammer said. “I am for the people, not dividing them. I hope that people continue to come together in these large groups to work for change. I think this will be an interesting next four years, but I want to stay positive and hope that it’ll be OK.”