Anti-war activists have done plenty of talking over the past
couple months as the Bush administration railroads toward war. On
Wednesday afternoon, they tried something different. They walked.
In perhaps the biggest nationwide student movement since the
Vietnam War, over 1,000 UCLA students staged a campus-wide walkout
on Wednesday as part of a national moratorium against war with
Iraq, joining tens of thousands of students in high schools and
colleges around the nation. Rallying at Westwood Plaza in front of
Ackerman Union, sign-waving, slogan-shouting students clamored that
the government was slashing into school budgets to fund its war
machine. “We’re demanding our education be prioritized
over war,” said David Chang, director of the Asian Pacific
Coalition. “We can’t go about our business while
there’s a war going on. We’re going to make a statement
and do something about it.” Ryan Smith, a fourth-year
political science student, a member of the African Student Union, a
Daily Bruin Viewpoint columnist and an event organizer, agreed.
“If we don’t walk out today, who knows if students will
have an education tomorrow?” he asked. The walkout hit at
11:15 a.m. In Moore 100 during Life Sciences 1, around 30 to 50
students marched out holding signs and chanting for international
justice. Some students who didn’t have a class at 11:15 a.m.
attended random ones anyway and walked out to make a statement. The
walkout, which was nationally coordinated by peace organizations
like Not in Our Name and the ANSWER Coalition, was organized at
UCLA exclusively by a wide range of student groups. Students
flooded into Westwood Plaza as activists led chants from the stage.
Some held their cell phones or cameras in the air to capture the
audacity of the moment, while impromptu debates sprang up around
the fringe of the crowd between anti- and pro-war activists. The
vast majority of students in attendance listed grievances ranging
from the incompetence of President Bush to U.S. intervention
abroad. “Saddam Hussein probably does not speak for the
entire Iraqi population because Bush sure doesn’t speak for
the entire American population,” said Cassie Schimmel, a
third-year history student. Andrew Song, a first-year material
science and engineering student, said the walkout was symbolic of
student unification. “It takes this togetherness … it shows
you can take a stance and make a difference,” he said. A
dozen students staged a “die-in” during the middle of
the rally, lying down with red-stained shirts and guarded by
students meant to represent U.S soldiers. “This war is
supposed to be for the liberation of the Iraqi people,” said
German Gurrola, a fourth-year anthropology student who played one
of the “dead” students. “If three out of four
people who are going to die are civilians, it’s
contradictory.” Activists then led students in a march to
Murphy Hall, where they rallied outside as a delegation of four
students went to Chancellor Carnesale’s office to demand the
UC Regents not raise student fees and come out in support of the
anti-war movement. Though Carnesale was in Oakland attending a
conference, representatives met with the delegation and agreed to
arrange a meeting. “A commitment has been made for the
chancellor to meet the four of you,” said Assistant
Chancellor Antoinette Mongelli, although she would not specify an
exact date. Later in the evening, about 100 students from local
high schools and Santa Monica City College rallied at the corner of
Westwood Boulevard and Le Conte Avenue, eliciting support from the
rush-hour traffic. Faculty members and Associated Students of UCLA
employees also showed up to watch the rally and were impressed by
the passion and turnout of the protesters. “It’s one of
the best examples of solidarity I’ve seen on this campus, and
I’ve been here since 1985,” said Pat McLaren, a student
support services employee for ASUCLA. Jim Gimzewski, a professor of
chemistry, said attending rallies was part of a university
experience. “It’s part of your education at a
university … to develop a set of values and engage in
debates,” he said. Not all those present were waving
peace-signs. A small yet visible contingent of pro-war supporters
showed up as well, saying peace activists did not propose viable
alternatives to war and ignored the plight of the Iraqi people.
“I don’t think any of these chants have freed Iraqi
prisoners. I don’t see how clapping and chanting is going to
help the Iraqi people,” said David Hackett, a fourth-year
political science and French student who helped carry a banner
which read “Saddam Loves Walkouts.” In some instances,
confrontations between anti-war and pro-war activists became ugly.
People would routinely shout each other down with bullhorns, and
organizers struggled to separate cursing activists from one
another. Andrew Jones, chairperson of the Bruin Republicans and
former Daily Bruin Viewpoint columnist, said protesters seized and
shredded his pro-war banner and said organizers did nothing to
deter them. Many students at UCLA didn’t even attend the
protest, saying they had other things to worry about or
weren’t informed enough to protest. “As a theater
major, I have classes I am focused on, and it is hard to be aware
of world issues,” said Eleni Lotakis, a first-year theater
student. “If I am going to a protest, I should know what I am
doing.” Georgia Korbakis, a first-year biochemistry student
who was sitting outside of Kerckhoff, said she wasn’t even
sure how effective the protest would be. “I know that
they’re making a statement, but looking around it
doesn’t seem like people care,” she said. A group of
three Marines who showed up on Bruin Walk to man their traditional
recruitment station said they were undeterred by the rally.
“You have a God-given right to speak your mind and you have
an America-given right to get away with it,” said Marine
Captain A. Hollimon, who added the UCLA community had always been
supportive of the Marines in the three years he had been a
recruiter.
From coast to coast All in all, tens of thousands of students
walked out of classes in over 300 colleges. From Penn State to
Stanford University, students and professors abandoned their desks
and took to the streets, trying to draw attention to the economy,
healthcare, education and military deployments to Iraq. Students in
Britain, Spain and Australia, nations that support the U.S.-led
initiative in the United Nations, also staged protests. Many of the
protest organizers predicted Wednesday’s rally marked an
increase in activism at UCLA. “This is the beginning of the
student movement at UCLA,” one organizer proclaimed to the
crowd. “It started today.” With reports from Menaka
Fernando, Daily Bruin Reporter, Sarah Wagner, Daily Bruin Senior
Staff, and Daily Bruin wire services.