With the spring 2026 semester coming to an end, University faculty members across the humanities reflect upon safety measures taken this past winter throughout Operation Metro Surge.

Although federal immigration presence in Minneapolis has not been eliminated, federal activity has declined in comparison to the height of the operation. Many students have been able to return to in-person classes over the past several weeks at their discretion, and community members say a sense of recovery is being established. 

A change in modality, however, is not the only safety measure that went into the initiatives of this past winter. When thinking about the efforts that went into the critical moment on campus, many do not account for those made by individuals behind the scenes and what this looked like.

As University administration left many responsive procedures and classroom management decisions up to individual faculty members, professors found themselves forced to navigate and mobilize within their departments.

Several faculty members across the humanities noted departments mobilized as a tool for resilience and protected students and the campus community.

Sarah C. Chambers, a professor and Chair of the Department of History, said one of the first things the history department did was improve its communications by creating an efficient, close-knit channel system for receiving concerns, resource sharing and establishing protocols. 

Additionally, Chambers said the department organized supplementary hybrid meetings to regularly exchange ideas.

“The University is a really huge place, and messaging coming from a more distant part maybe doesn’t feel as close to our concerns, or that somebody really sees us,” Chambers said. “So I think that these kinds of departmental levels where there was a response – that’s kind of an asset.”

Chambers reflects upon the importance of these initiatives and their significance as it relates to the foundational goals of the institution.

“The mission of the University, college, and our department is of course research, but also at the level of students: education and learning,” Chambers said. “How can you have learning going on if people are scared, vulnerable, or not having their basic needs met?” 

Chambers said the history department holds a significant role in utilizing its knowledge as a tool for collective learning.

“The other responsibility that is less urgent, but important, is using our knowledge of history to share with the University and public how it is that these kinds of situations develop, how they’ve developed in the past and what have been the repercussions of those,” Chambers said. “The perspective that understanding history can provide is an important one and I hope that we can continue to do that moving forward.”

Amelia María de la Luz Montes is a professor, Fulbright Scholar and chair of the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University. Montes said she recalls an alertness and concern across the department since last spring, which is when faculty began to have more frequent assemblies. 

“We’d been preparing for this since last spring, actually — and so we started having meetings about it,” Montes said.

The lack of communication, professors say they saw from the University administration in response to the presence of federal immigration officials this fall, however, prompted swift action to be taken by the department. 

“The fall is when a number of us on staff started making sure everybody had whistles, and we started the workshops,” Montes said. “The student group Luchadores — they were very active and wanted to take it on.”

“Luchadores en Marcha,” which translates in English to “Fighters on the March,” is an action network at the University established in September. They focus on challenges faced by the Chicano and Latino communities, acting as a space for learning, leadership and advocacy. 

“They started doing workshops last fall, asking classes if they wanted workshops on ‘Know Your Rights’, that’s where students really had the question — and so it was important that we had that available,” Montes said.

“Know Your Rights” is an informational campaign that offers training, often in the form of workshops or webinars, designed to empower and educate people about their constitutional rights, safety planning, and navigating interactions with government officials.

Katayoun “Kat” Amjadi, a visual artist, professor and University alumnus, said she remembers the swiftness with which artists began using their skills to help aid the community.

“The studio building that I’m in is filled with all different types of artists, so immediately they would use the 3D printer. Whistles were printed out, that was one of the first actions,” Amjadi said. “A lot of posters, especially the red and white one that is everywhere even — they were all made here.”

Amjadi said the items being made in the studios were not only being displayed to convey messages on campus, but also were carried throughout protests. 

“I feel like art is always part of these kinds of social upheavals but it’s in the background,” Amjadi said. “Nobody thinks about posters or designs by somebody or how they come to be, so that was the art aspect of it.”

Outside of physical art making, Amjadi said faculty members within the department were able to get involved with more personal efforts.

“Here, it was more organized efforts, signal channels with specific different tasks, delivery systems, even making Excel sheets to be able to track everything,” Amjadi said. “Even just doing laundry for different families and remembering which pile of laundry goes to which house.”

Amjadi said the people of Minneapolis have been able to come together in recent times to maintain a sense of hope.

“There is a seed of it here, that people come together very fast — act very fast, and that is very heartwarming, especially at this time,” Amjadi said.