In Padova, activism is community. By working through the established systems, high school, college students and community members believe change is possible.
University of Padova students physically barricaded the Via San Francesco. DIGOS and university representatives pushed and shoved against the students to allow officials in and out, preventing the students from speaking to the academic Senate members about university investments and the war in Gaza.
About 25 students held onto each other to create a physical barricade and help each other brace against the DIGOS and officials pushing them back.
The Carabinieri, Italian military police, wait outside Palazzo Bò at the request of the University of Padova while protesting students inside chant and give speeches.
Students were able to block all entrances, temporarily declaring the space a “Liberated Zone” as the Carabinieri watched.
Antonio (right) and a friend discuss their classes for the upcoming semester together at Circolo Blow Up while waiting for the Italy vs. Spain Euros game to start. They shared cigarettes and memes about the frustration of registration.
Anthony and two friends laugh together at the same table also waiting for the game. Circolo Blow Up is a community space where students feel safe to be authentically themselves and have open discussions.
At the entrance of Circolo Blow Up sits a small bar run by students equiped with beer on tap and plenty of Aperol and Campari for spritzers.
Money collected from the drink sales go to organizations like UDU Padova — the student’s union — that aim to make Padova better. “If we discuss something, we do something,” one of the head organizers said. “If you want change in the city, the university, you can [make] change.”
Mates at Blow Up are more than friends the students agreed. “Life is bad, but if you stay with good mates you can change anything,” one of the organizers said.
Viola quietly paints her nails after watching Italy lose 1-0 against Spain. “Moments like this you can’t really find anywhere else in Padova,” Viola said. Since high school, Viola and her friends have been going to Blow Up as part of UDU’s high school chapter.