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On the 4th anniversary of the largest anti-war protests in human history, students at over 20 campuses organized strikes and protests.
In the face of Bush’s escalation of the Iraq war, which has already claimed the lives of 655,000 Iraqis, there is a growing sentiment on college campuses and society generally that enough is enough. While the majority of people in the US are against the war, thus far this opposition has been all too quiet or put its hopes in Congress to do something (when Congress has failed as of yet to even pass a non-binding resolution against the escalation). The actions at campuses on Feb. 15th were a welcome breach in this passivity, as students put a clear challenge to their whole generation: are you going to stay silent in the face of war crimes, or will you resist and mobilize to stop this war?
We, the students and staff of UC Santa Barbara, want to challenge our generation to put an end to the U.S. conquest of Iraq. Right now most opposition to the war is only symbolic. Congress is being sheepish and choosing not to end the war because we, the people, are not forcing them to act.Thus, if we really want to affect policies we need to withdraw our compliance and stop business as usual. Shutting down the university is the most immediate and powerful thing students can do on this front. Striking sends the message to our university’s administration and the world that we will not tolerate our institution’s grossly disproportionate ties to corporations and federal agencies that do nothing other than profit off war and prepare nuclear weapons. It also sends a message to the government that we will not be complicit in any illegal or immoral war.
After this call was put out just 3 weeks ago, word spread quickly to other campuses, and by Feb. 15th, over 20 campuses were planning activities. Wherever strikes or protests were called, campuses were immersed in debate about the war, what it would take to end it, and what was students” responsibility to the world. There are clearly thousands of students across the country who are now ready to act, and tens of thousands more who are debating what they should be doing.
Here are some highlights of what happened Feb. 15th (check back here for more):
At UC – Santa Barbara, 1,000 students showed up to the rally at At Columbia University, 400 people attended the
At UC – Berkeley, at the biggest anti-war protest in years, 2-300 students attended a
At San Francisco State University, 100-150 students gathered for a noon rally, hearing speakers from different organizations on campus. After the rally, dozens marched to a nearby military recruitment center, where they were met by about 100 high school students from Lowell High School. Earlier that day, hundreds attended a rally at Lowell High. [Read more about Lowell High School walk-out.]
At Columbia College in Chicago, students held an all day rally starting at
At California State Uuniversity Los Angeles, student groups put together a rally in the center of the campus, which was attended by about 75 students and a few faculty. Students and faculty spoke about the outrages of the Bush regime, and 10 students stood in orange jumpsuits to represent the illegal detaining and tortures at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib. One of the student participants in the orange jumpsuits said, “I was standing in the suit for just 5 minutes and I was sweating all over! I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to wear those suits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while being interrogated and tortured!” After the rally, a number of students came together to speak about the need for an anti-war movement on the CSULA campus and are starting to organize for a March 1st, speaking engagement featuring Sunsara Taylor.
At Georgia State University, the campus quad was filled with a mock graveyard, with 40 tombstones representing everything the Bush regime has killed (655,000 Iraqis, habeas corpus, science, womens reproductive rights, separation of church and state, etc.). Several people wearing orange jumpsuits (depicting Guantanamo detainees) stood in front of the graveyard. Organizers described a very receptive response from students, with most in agreement with the banner calling Bush a war criminal. The campus radio and TV station covered the protest.
40 students at Mills College in Oakland, California led a speak-out which virtually the entire campus heard during lunch hour. [read more]
Students from Vanderbilt who particiapted in the Feb 15th protests wrote:
“The protest at Vanderbilt went amazingly, although the media coverage was skewed a bit and made it out to be more partisan than it really was. We had about 50-60 participants and had a successful rally outside of Rand dining hall and a march towards the chapel, chanting anti-war and pro-peace slogans. We also had a good speech session inside Benton Chapel.”
At U.C.L.A a student organizer wrote us about a Die-In that took place at the center of campus on February 15th:
“Shortly before noon, a group of students met up in front of Kerkoff Hall after receiving a text message calling for a “die in.” This was organized by students from the new SDS, The World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime!, Code Pink and several undergrad and graduate students. This action was in solidarity with the student strike initiated by students and staff at UCSB. About 30-40 students ended up staging a “die in” (including students who were passing by and decided to join in). Everyone participating wore signs on their chest which read “U.S Out of Iraq,” as well as home made signs that read “Stop The War Now.” I distributed the Call from the World Can’t Wait until we started to spread around Bruin Walk at 12:10pm.
At 12:12 P.M. the students “dropped dead.” A person on a bullhorn was explaining to the passing on lookers what the students on the floor were doing and why. Some who were passing by ended up taking part, but a few decided to negatively respond with cursing and confrontation. This did not disrupt the event. The “die in” at UCLA lasted until 12:20pm. Many students passed us by on the way to class, while others made gestures of praise. There’s talk of students getting together and building off this event.”
Anti-war activities were also held at Vanderbilt, Sarah Lawrence College, University of North Carolina – Greensboro, Rutgers University, Eastern New Mexico State, UC – Santa Cruz, UC – Davis, Sonoma State, San Francisco State University, and more.Check back here for more reports.
What was achieved Feb. 15th must be built on in the coming weeks. This semester, campuses need to come alive with resistance. It must become the mission of this generation to end this war and drive out the Bush regime. And it is up to everyone reading this to make that a reality.
