College of DuPage Faculty Association members are reportedly being urged to join a protest without prior consultation, according to an anonymous source, sparking criticism over the union’s political involvement. | Facebook / College of DuPage Faculty Association
College of DuPage Faculty Association members are reportedly being urged to join a protest without prior consultation, according to an anonymous source, sparking criticism over the union’s political involvement. | Facebook / College of DuPage Faculty Association
The College of DuPage (COD) Faculty Association voted to co-sponsor this weekend's No Kings rally along Roosevelt Road without consulting its full membership, according to a union member who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"They did not ask union members. This is not a unanimous union decision. They are asking faculty to participate in protests,” a College of DuPage faculty union member stated.
The COD Faculty Association represents more than 650 members, with over half actively involved. The association represents faculty, adjunct faculty, part-time counselors, advisors and the broader campus community.
The College of DuPage Student Resource Center, located on campus, serves a diverse student body as the faculty union faces criticism for its alleged leftist political involvement in the upcoming No Kings rally.
| Facebook / College of DuPage
The anonymous source also alleged that Democratic leaders are seeking to prolong the federal government shutdown until after the nationwide demonstrations.
The event, part of a national day of protests scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, is one of several planned by leftist groups across DuPage County and the broader Chicago area.
The COD Faculty Association is actively promoting the protest on its Facebook page.
The college approved a $365.9 million budget for fiscal year 2026, with much of that coming from property owners' taxes based on the county’s effective tax rate of about 2.22% to 2.29%.
Locally, the Roosevelt Road “No Kings 2” march will take place from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and is co-sponsored by the COD Faculty Association alongside a range of political and advocacy groups.
Other local sponsors include the League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn, which bills itself a non-partisan group, as well as the activist organization Indivisible DuPage.
Indivisible was previously involved in 2020’s BLM riots, which resulted in 15 deaths, over 284 injured officers and property damage exceeding $66 million in Chicago alone.
Additional backers include the Democratic Party of DuPage County, WTDO (Win the District Organization), Roosevelt Road Resistance, Fox Valley Rising, Indivisible Illinois, the Democratic Party of Milton Township, Glen Ellyn Area Democrats, the Democratic Women of DuPage County (DWDC), the Illinois Muslim Action Network, Young Democrats of DuPage County, Swing Left and the York Township Democratic Organization.
Local officials and community members are raising concerns about the rally.
“They left out the hammer and sickle symbol,” Pete Ladesic, a former Glen Ellyn Trustee, said in a comment on Indivisible Dupage’s Facebook post.
Others, like Art Ellingsen, criticized the premise of the protest.
“We don't have a king,” Ellingsen added on the League of Women Voters Glen Ellyn’s post. “We have a Democratically Elected President doing what he was elected to do.”
Similarly at the national level, Republican leaders have taken aim at the protests.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) denounced No Kings organizers as "Marxists," "antifa" and "pro-Hamas," claiming the D.C. protest is a “hate America rally.”
Johnson also said that George Soros is funding the demonstration, which will involve paid agitators, and that the National Guard might be needed.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise echoed those remarks, suggesting the event is meant to score political points “with the terrorist wing of their party.”
In recent months, protests across the region have seen escalating violence.
In June, No Kings protests, which organizers described as peaceful, resulted in 17 arrests in Chicago after protestors defaced monuments and vehicles, including spray-painting swastikas on a Tesla, and clashed with police, according to reports.
More recent anti-ICE protests in the Chicago area, including at the Broadview ICE facility, have seen cars ramming into federal vehicles, physical assaults on federal agents and the use of tear gas and firearms by leftist rioters. The Department of Homeland Security described the acts as “domestic terrorism” and reported a 1,000% increase in assaults on officers during enforcement actions.
Alerts Sign-up