Over 150 Binghamton University students and local community members participated in a walk-out and political rally against the War in Iraq on Monday afternoon. Participants walked out of their classes at 11:45 a.m. and gathered in front of the fountain outside the Glenn G. Bartle Library, continuing into the Couper Administration Building and the New University Union Food Court.
The protest was organized by the Student Action Collective, a sub-committee of the Experimental Media Organization, as well as the Binghamton Political Initiative.
BU students, professors and community members chanted and marched around campus carrying signs bearing anti-war slogans and beating drums. Many urged participants to speak against the administration’s support from companies who profit from the war in Iraq.
Stephen Cormier, a BU sophomore, was one of many speakers whose speech drew an overwhelming reaction from the crowd.
‘Movements cannot be isolated in places like Washington, D.C. A lot of people forget that this campus gets a lot of financial support from Lockheed Martin, which has a huge role in the war,’ Cormier said. He encouraged supporters to continue ‘speaking out against the government that has abandoned the people of this nation.’
A megaphone passed among the crowd at the fountain allowed students to pass their anti-war sentiments to both the protesters and passing students, emphasizing their belief that students were too apathetic.
‘People should be joining us, not staring at us, not asking us questions. We need to stand together so we can end the goddamn war,’ said Rachel, a student who wished to give only her first name.
Faculty members in attendance also made sure to make their presence known. Randall McGuire of the anthropology department said he believed that young people should not be involved in a war which he believes ‘has no purpose and is based on lies.’
Thomas Glave, an English professor, expressed the importance of faculty participation. ‘Where is the faculty? We are leading the next generation of our country. I hope more of my colleagues show up.’
‘It is important that students are standing together in solidarity,’ said sophomore Basheer Bergus, a member of both SAC and BPI.
Various community groups were also in attendance, including the Broome County Council of Churches, as well as Peace Action, the largest grassroots peace group in the United States. Father Tim Taugher and Susan Carlin, representatives from these groups, respectively, wanted to build a bridge between community activists and students.
‘We have weekly protests every Monday at 4:30 [p.m.] in front of the Federal Building Downtown. We would love for students to join us,’ said Carlin.
Although the protesters seemed to think their political participation was successful, some students in the area seemed to think that the University is an ineffective location for such a protest. Many students who were in the Food Court when the protesters entered seemed confused by the rally.
One student ‘ who wished to remain anonymous ‘ said, ‘This is not the right audience. Coming to the Food Court is just making things unpleasant. It is a good effort, but they are telling the wrong people.’
Brant Lipari, who witnessed the protesters’ display in the Food Court, agreed. ‘I don’t understand why they’re telling us. It’s not like this small group will help them.’
Several students participating in the protest acknowledged that their efforts may seem irrelevant, but their actions were meant to be symbolic. ‘Any sort of public demonstration, even if we are in a small city, gets people thinking about what is going on,’ said Emma Guzikowski, a freshman.
Some students admitted to feeling uncomfortable with the protester’s chants. One anonymous student who was leaving the Kosher Kitchen as protesters passed chanting about ending the occupation in both Iraq and Palestine, said, ‘That was not an appropriate place for what they are saying.’
Professors teaching in Lecture Hall were also visibly angered when protesters began slamming their classroom doors and banging drums outside their rooms. A professor in Lecture Hall 1 got into a confrontation with several protesters as he struggled to close the classroom doors that the students were blocking.
Despite the general volume of the protest, members of the New York State University Police who were responsible for security at the event said that protesters had been completely compliant with the law and posed no major problems.