The Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance led a walk through campus, and said they were in protest against the University of Kentucky’s President Eli Capilouto and the Board of Trustees’  restrictions on free speech and constitutional rights. 

The organization began its two-mile walk at UK’s Main Gate, on Administration Drive, holding signs and chanting in solidarity against UK administration on Monday, Nov. 3.

According to the event’s flyer, the organization vocalizes its support to UK faculty, staff and students who feel “pressured” by UK’s administration to “remain silent.”

“A lot of people tell us that they feel like they can’t come out and protest with us,” Craig Blair, founder of Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance said. “They can’t come to the rallies because they work for the university and they’re being told not to speak up.”

Blair said he established the group in February 2025 to raise awareness of the limitations of constitutional rights under the Trump administration.

Since its founding, the organization has held over 250 protests and has more than 1,000 members on their Facebook page.

According to Blair, today’s walk through campus was meant to be a callout to the university on numerous issues, including the suspension of professors for exercising their right to free speech.

According to the Kentucky Kernel, Ramsi Woodcock, UK law professor, was removed from the classroom after sharing an online petition calling for international military action against Israel.

“I know a lot of people in the College of Law, and they tell me it’s a scary time right now,” Blair said. “We need the administration to do the right thing.”

Blair said UK’s administration’s actions are a “bend to the knee” toward Trump’s administration and Project 2025 and are against the image he wants Kentucky to portray.

“It started even before Trump took office this time last year,” Blair said. “Then (UK administration) dissolved the DEI office and discontinued the identity graduation.”

Blair said the Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance will continue speaking out for people who feel like they are being silenced by administrations like UK.

“This is America,” Blair said. “We are a land built on freedom for all, and as long as one segment of the population is being oppressed, none of us will be free.”

Students joined the walk throughout campus, including Logan Robertson, a junior majoring in political science and history.

“I was on the way to class,” Robertson said. “I saw them exercising their freedom of speech in an anti-fascist manner against the UK administration, known for being authoritarian.”

Robertson said keeping our community politically engaged on topics like free speech is essential, especially when fighting for human rights.

“President Capilouto and the Board of Trustees does not engage in any dialogue whatsoever with our student body, and it’s important that we have community members coming on campus to support us,” Robertson said.

UK spokesperson Jay Blanton told the Kernel that the university remains committed to free speech on campus.

“Two demonstrations were taking place on campus at the same time, within yards of each other. That both were conducted safely and in the heart of our campus underscores that our commitment is strong and that civil discourse is thriving at the University of Kentucky,” Blanton said.

According to Blanton, the university will remain in compliance with the federal government after UK was reported to have violated the Civil Rights Act by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Oct 1.

“Certainly as the federal government, as it has policy direction that it provides to us, we really tried hard as an institution to communicate with our campus about what we know at a given moment in time and how we plan to comply,” Blanton said last month.

Junior landscape architecture major Ellie Isom said she discovered the organization a few days ago and felt compelled to join the Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance.

Isom said she hadn’t been politically active recently and felt drawn to the organization and its values.

“It’s important to raise awareness,” Isom said. “It’s easy to dismiss or even forget about what’s happening, just because life happens, and if nobody stands up for these people, these people are going to use their power for no good.”

Isom said she hopes students continue to stand up against the administration.

“Don’t let these people walk on you. They’re all on a power trip,” Isom said. “Don’t let them bully you. It’s pitiful what they are doing.”