Molly Forgues: ‘Minneapolis has always been a strong community.’

Molly Forgues is a strategic communications major and senior at the University of Minnesota. 

“In general, I would say I’m introverted. I’m happy, friendly. A student ready to graduate. 

“My sister actually moved to the cities after she graduated college, and when I was looking for school, she was very keen on me coming here. I really thought I wanted to go to a small school, but then I toured it and fell in love and came here. 


“I was actually out of town. I remember when the first big occupation happened, and I remember coming back and just seeing flowers everywhere and seeing everything on the news.
It was just terrible and overwhelming. I think a lot of people, including myself, didn’t really know what to do to help. Going to protests and everything, that felt great with the community. But other than that, it felt very hopeless. 

“I went home, and when I was coming back is when things were starting to pick up. I was here over winter break, and I was here when all the protests were happening in front of the hotels and stuff around here. I went to protests, but I wasn’t directly involved with ICE at all. I don’t know anyone who had any personal experiences. I know a lot of friends who are exchange students or foreign students, and they were very scared. I remember going to class the first day back and having to have talks with all of our professors about what was going to happen if that happened, but no, I didn’t see any ICE agents personally.

“I think [Operation Metro Surge] reshaped [the Twin Cities community], and the fact that I think Minneapolis has always been a strong community, and that they’ve shown that — in 2020, they showed that as well — it’s made me more proud to be someone who chose to come here and chooses to be part of the city, for sure. 

“I think that people are going to have opinions on the university and Minneapolis, and I think a lot of people hold the same opinions when it comes to what happened in 2020. But for our legacy, I’m proud of it, and I think we’re up for a Peace Prize, Minneapolis as a city. I would love for that to be our legacy. I think we prove time and time again that we’re willing to do things peacefully, and that’s what we are as a city.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview by Eleanor Steffen