People of Lexington, University of Kentucky students and alumni of all ages protested the recent revocations of some UK international graduate student visas in a 2-mile march around campus.
Held on Thursday, April 10, the protest, hosted by Lexington protest group Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance, began with about 30 people by the Bowman Wildcat Statue. Protestors walked down Rose Street, around William T. Young Library, down South Limestone and back to the Bowman Wildcat Statue.
On April 4, an email from UK President Eli Capilouto was sent out to the campus community that said “a small number of international graduate students at UK” had their visas revoked.
Founder of the Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance and UK alumnus Craig Blair said he wanted to show support for international UK students.
“(We also want) to let the student body in general and the faculty who are maybe afraid and feeling suppressed at this point know that the community is behind them,” Blair said.
Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance was formed in early 2025 to protest what Blair said is a constitutional crisis in the U.S., saying he wanted to raise awareness for the people negatively affected by the current presidential administration.
“Hopefully some of the people who reluctantly voted for Trump realize that they’ve made a mistake,” Blair said. “We want to show them that there are people out here that disagree with him.”
Some UK students, and other people passing by, joined the protest as the group walked through campus.
Protestors held signs with some reading “Hands off our students!” and “Due process for all persons.”
Throughout the march, the group also chanted different phrases including “no fear, no hate, foreign students make us great” and “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.”
Mike Donnelly, a protester and UK alumnus, came to the protest with his two granddaughters.
Donnelly said he believed the government was targeting students who say things that do not align with the current administration.
“That’s not how the United States works. This is way beyond the politics of liberals and conservatives,” Donnelly said. “This is about our country and the constitution that we all love and I think it’s being torn up by the current administration.”
The Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance founder said the group had protested on UK’s campus before in previous weeks, Donnelly said he saw a lot of indifference from UK students in their reactions to both current events and their protests.
As more people gather and speak up, Donnelly said he hoped more people would become aware of the situation with the international students and feel emboldened to protest as well.
“I was in ROTC back during the Vietnam era. At that time, there were a lot of student protests against the war and it changed the course of the war,” Donnelly said. “By the time I got out of artillery school, they were drawing down the troops in Vietnam . . . I didn’t have to go and I think a lot of the reasons for that are the protests, so I’m out here kind of paying back.”
Theatre major and sophomore Ren Whitsitt was at the protest with three of his classmates.
Whitsitt said he heard the protest from class and decided to leave before it ended to join the protest.
“Taking away different perspectives from our community is absolutely heartbreaking,” Whitsitt said. “People are coming to UK for community and education. Sending them away because of political reasons is disgusting to me.”
Whitsitt said he saw indifference among students regarding the news of the visa revocations, but said he hoped more awareness about the situation would get them involved.
“My hope is the people passing by us realize that there are people that care, people that are working to learn more about this situation and how we can remedy it,” Whitsitt said.
