Hundreds of high school and college students nationwide skipped class to protest the Bush administration’s plans for war in Iraq during a “Books Not Bombs” protest, organized by the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition.
This national coalition formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and consists of 15 student groups. An estimated 300 schools were expected to participate in this nationwide event. As of March 4, 230 institutions were registered and confirmed; however, NYSPC stressed that the list was partial.
“The Bush administration is intent on plunging America into an illegitimate and pre-emptive war that will only increase danger for Americans and the world,” reads NYSPC’s website. “At the same time, education, healthcare and the economy are being neglected. It’s time for youth and students to take a stand for America’s future!”
Students from California to Vermont planned events such as antiwar rallies and mock elections during the day’s walkouts. Ballots from the elections will ultimately be sent to Congress in which protestors will have the opportunity to cast votes against the war and for education.
The University of Illinois at Chicago held a walkout and teach-in on campus Wednesday. Eric Peters, a graduate student at UIC and founding member of Students for Social Justice helped organize the walkout and felt that the day’s events were a success. Peters’ arranged for faculty and graduate teaching assistants to release their classes to come to the teach-in, which Peters said drew close to 1,000 people.
“Jesse Jackson and other members of the community as well as faculty and students spoke at the teach-in that went for three and a half hours,” Peters said. “It went very well … we had a lot of coverage.”
University of Iowa sophomore Daniel Kurtzman attended the walkout at his university yesterday.
“I went because I thought it was necessary to have the student voice heard,” Kurtzman said. “A lot of people showed up, but it wasn’t a good representation of the student body… mostly liberals were there.”
Although Kurtzman said the protest was a success he said he was unsure of whether the goal was met.
“The goal of the protest was to get the student voices heard,” Kurtzman said. “We’re not going to know whether that happened until we see what happens in Iraq. If the president doesn’t acknowledge that all of these protests were going on then obviously nothing was accomplished.”
Overall, individuals who attended activities at their respective schools are pleased with the outcomes, however, many students chose to stay home rather than go on strike.
University of Kansas sophomore Michael Marion decided against participating in the walkout for a few different reasons, one being his support of the war. Other students noted apathy as their main reason for not participating. Some students who chose to participate said it was a positive.
“This protest was a good start in getting the attention of the Bush administration,” Kurtzman said. “We can only hope that he takes our rally, as well as rallies across the country, into consideration before making any decisions.”
Peters also felt the protest was a success.
“The day’s events went very well. I’m happy with the turnout,” Peters said. “This represents an escalation on part of Chicagoland students and their level of resistance to the war.”
In addition to walkouts in the United States, student organizations in Australia, Spain, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Brazil and Scotland were in the process of organizing strikes in solidarity with the American students.
