As students marched out of class, down Bruin Walk, and into
Westwood Plaza, many were supported by professors who cancelled
classes and relocated office hours in the plaza.
Professors displayed support in a variety of ways, many telling
students a walkout would be tolerated and that students who chose
to protest would not be penalized.
At 11:15 a.m., biology professor Cheryl Ann Zimmer, who was
teaching a Life Science 1 course, told her class it was OK if they
wanted to get up and walk out of class.
“The students have a right to express themselves … I
definitely would have been one of the students walking out when I
was their age,” Zimmer said.
Other professors, like molecular, cell and developmental biology
professor Jean Perry and history professor Gabriel Piterberg,
cancelled class and attended the rally in anti-war support.
“We wanted to give students the opportunity to protest if
they wanted,” Perry said.
She added that students will not be excused from class material,
but she would condense the lecture into a review session planned
during tenth week.
Piterberg, who teaches a 17-student history seminar at 11 a.m.
on Wednesdays, said the vast majority of his class left to be a
part of the demonstration.
“Only two students stayed,” Piterberg said.
After almost the entire class left, Piterberg decided to
reconvene at 1 p.m. so students who wished to be a part of the
walkout would not be punished.
“Politics are part of our lives, missing one class for an
hour or two is not going to determine education. An important issue
like war is going to affect education,” Piterberg said.
Greg Rubinson, a lecturer in UCLA’s writing department,
was holding office hours when the protest began.
Rubinson, who said he opposes the war, chose to not cancel
office hours and instead took his student and her paper in question
with him down to Westwood Plaza.
“This (rally) is democracy, and our administration
represents anti-democracy,” Rubinson said.
And even among professors who decided to keep on teaching, many
felt the disruption caused by the walkout was justified.
“A number of students got up and left, but it did not
unduly interrupt class,” said Professor Carole Pateman, who
was teaching a political theory class during the time of the
walkout.
Instead of cancelling class, Pateman split her class into part
lecture, part discussion of the cause of the walkout ““
American interaction in the Middle East.
The rally was attended by numerous professors, including George
Smoth, a visiting professor from Oxford.
“This is not the right war, not at the right place, not at
the right time,” Smoth said.