On Thursday, April 16, Villanova Student Voices for Palestine hosted a rally at the Oreo. Students dressed in all black, covered themselves with shawls and masks and stood in the hot sun protesting the University’s relationship with weapons manufacturers.
Around 10 students protested, and it started around 10:30 a.m. Members of Villanova’s Public Safety Department arrived at the Oreo shortly after, but remained off to the side. The protest was the last event in the organization’s “Week of Rage.”
Using a megaphone, the group members took turns chanting to the listeners. One of the chants was, “Villanova, you can’t hide. You’re ignoring genocide.” Another chant was, “Free, free Palestine.”
Students also took turns speaking about the conflict in Gaza regarding the death count, ceasefire violations and injuries. Students also held signs. One read “fund education, not occupation.”
A member of the group walked around with flyers, handing them out to students sitting outside and walking by. The flyer included a list of statistics regarding the war in Gaza. One example read “Number of times ‘Israel’ has violated October 2025 ‘ceasefire’: 2,000+.”
At the end of the flyer, a statement read, “End US Aid to Israel. End Villanova Partnerships with genocide profiteers Lockheed Martin, Boeing and L3Harris. Villanova Student Voices for Palestine”
The protest lasted about an hour and wrapped up at around 11:30 a.m.
Villanova Student Voices for Palestine co-presidents, Marisa Canepa and Sean Monteith, spoke about the protest and the organization’s “Week of Rage.”
“The main message for the ‘Week of Rage’ is just reminding the administration, as well as the campus, that, you know, the genocide is still happening,” Canepa said. “There are students who are still very, very enraged about that, as well as specifically Villanova’s partnerships with weapon manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, L3 Harrison and Boeing.”
Canepa expanded on the University’s relationship with weapon manufacturers, claiming the organization wants all partnerships to end.
“As far as we know, and what the administration has told us, is that they are not actively invested in terms of their endowment in weapons manufacturing companies, because it goes against their morals as a Catholic institution,” Canepa said. “But they still partner with these places, like at the Career Fair and with the Career Center. We are very glad that, unlike a lot of other schools, Villanova does not have direct investments in these companies, but we would like them to end all partnerships.”
Monteith also touched on the importance of student activism on college campuses, specifically regarding the conflict in Gaza.
“We recognize that Universities are a main site of struggle in this issue in this country specifically, because so many universities have direct and indirect ties to the occupation in Palestine as well as other partnerships like on this campus,” Monteith said. “We recognize both how much money is going into genocide from universities, [and] also the potential of using the universities as a place to make change in the world. It is both about the symbolic weight of standing with Palestine and also about the material effect that working on campuses can have.”
As the protest was happening, so were student tours. Canepa touched on the importance of seeing student activism on college campuses.
“I would have loved to see protest culture on Villanova’s campus when I was making that decision to come here,” Canepa said. “For a lot of people, it’s important to know that Villanova does stand up for justice. I think there is a culture of apathy on campus. It’s a predominantly white institution. It’s in a wealthy area, I think there is this idea that no one on Villanova’s campus cares about these things, but we want to show current and prospective students that that’s not true, and that there are people who are fighting and will continue to fight for justice in many different forms.”
Monteith added on to Canepa’s statement.
“Our goal is not to be antagonistic for antagonism’s sake,” Monteith said. “Our goal is just to raise the issues that are already taking place in our world and situate our campus within larger issues. In some ways, we’re actually doing the University a favor by being attractive to students who deeply care about these issues and have a chance to see a full range of student life on campus.”
This protest was not the first to occur at Villanova regarding the conflict in Gaza, and more than likely won’t be the last. To learn about Student Voices for Palestine, follow its Instagram @Villanova_svp and look out for more events.
