To protect the identity of an employee participating in this initiative, a fake name will be used. 

On September 18, 2025, an ECC student was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement; this inspired some in the ECC community to launch a new digital initiative, “The Grapevine,” a dedicated Discord server aimed at providing students with fast, verified information.

“There was not a very good timely source of verified info, so a lot of people were kind of running around campus.” said Professor and team leader of this initiative, James Stone. “We decided to try to fix that.”

The Grapevine discord server was launched this week, and all ECC students are encouraged to join and participate in sharing news. “Anyone can join the Discord, you just have to verify that you’re an ECC student if you want to post in it,” said Stone. He explains that this server is going to be used as a community tool to say properly informed on events, and crucial news, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity on campus. 

The Grapevine relies heavily on a team of eight Rapid Responders: trained, volunteer ECC employees who specialize in verifying and communicating information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement incidents.

“We have special training that teaches us how to go toward an ICE sighting,” Stone said. “So we’re not going to interfere, we’re going to gather information, spread information, and verify information.”

This safety net was deemed necessary because local authorities cannot interfere with federal operations. “A municipal Police Department can’t interfere with a federal agent,” Stone noted. He explained that since police are unable to intervene, community volunteers have stepped up to provide essential support.

ECC Student Addison Greenberg believes this project will be extremely helpful, especially for time-sensitive safety matters. “ICE activity on campus being known is really important because students would know when to evacuate,” said Greenberg.

The ultimate goal of this project is to report on both campus news and critical safety events, such as immigration enforcement sightings. The priority is replacing rumors with facts.

“If on the day of the next incident people know which information is rumors and which information is verified true, this project would be seen as successful” Stone added, highlighting the discords core mission.

Beyond safety, students appreciate the server’s function as a central information resource. ECC student Kayla Torres feels campus events are often scattered, and a specific Discord server for crucial updates is beneficial. “So many people have social media but it can be hard to manage, so having a specific Discord for upcoming events would be great,” Torres said.