A Florida State University graduate student says she was pulled from a required social work internship at the university’s Victim Advocate Program after a supervisor cited an Instagram video showing her chanting at a campus protest — a termination that has now become a rallying point for student activists who call it retaliation against organizers. Mariana Guimaraes, who started her Master’s of Social Work clinical internship at the Victim Advocate Program earlier this year, was removed from the position on September 10.
According to the Miami Herald, Guimaraes says her supervisor pointed to footage of her and other Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society members chanting “Shame on FSU” and “Dare to struggle, dare to win” during a campus demonstration. Per Guimaraes’s account of the conversation, the supervisor questioned whether she could be trusted with confidential patient information and said her actions had damaged the program’s relationship with campus partners. The Victim Advocate Program, affiliated with FSU’s Department of Student Support and Transitions, provides 24-hour confidential assistance, crisis support, safe lodging, and help with legal and medical processes to students, faculty, and staff affected by a traumatic or victimizing event, according to the Florida State University Department of Student Support and Transitions.
Guimaraes, who also served as SDS vice president and emceed a protest on the first day of her internship, told the Herald she was not aware of any staff policy barring political speech or protest attendance. She said she never received a physical termination letter and called the move “This is a clear escalation on student activists at FSU, causing a huge strain on my academic opportunity.” FSU spokesperson Amy Farnum-Patronis said interns in the Victim Advocate Program must follow ethical and professional standards and sign a confidentiality agreement, and noted that such internships — coordinated through FSU’s College of Social Work — are courtesy appointments rather than paid positions, with no employment relationship to the university.
A Degree Now Hanging In The Balance
Guimaraes had completed a background check and fingerprinting before starting the placement. She said her social work degree requires an internship placement to graduate, and that she will not be able to finish her program without securing another one in time. She said she now plans to find a new internship and continue her social work studies, while Tallahassee SDS members say they hope to see her reinstated at the Victim Advocate Program…