EVANSTON. Ill.– As part of a nationwide student “strike,” 500 Evanston Township High School students, Black, white and Latino, walked out of their classrooms March 5, braving freezing temperatures to protest George W. Bush’s war on Iraq. Across the country, students at 360 or more high schools and colleges protested against the looming war.

The students here marched around the snow-covered grounds of their school just north of Chicago. While clearly enjoying the chance to get out of classes, every student spoke thoughtfully about his or her opposition to war on Iraq. “One of my friends’ cousin is in the Navy and we don’t know if he’s going to go to war, or if he’ll come back. That’s kind of scary,” said freshman Robert Tamayo, 15. Sasha Clunis, 15, told the World, “I don’t think they should have a war. Violence leads to more violence.” The walkout was initiated by Youth for Social Action, an anti-racism student group.

Coordinated by the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition (NYSPC), the nationwide actions included rallies, teach-ins, vigils, die-ins, banner-drops, puppet shows, snowball fights and marches to demand “Books not Bombs.”

NYSPC steering committee member Adanjesus Marin, a national coordinator of the Young Communist League, said the turnout “shows sentiment against war has unified youth – Black, Brown and white – in a way few other issues have. It shows Bush is out of touch with this generation.”

In New York City thousands of students from over 20 high schools and six colleges walked out of classes and hopped “peace train” subways to converge in a rally at Hunter College.

More than 1,000 Stanford University students attended a noon rally, part of a day of events organized by the Coalition of Students Against War. At least 26 faculty canceled classes and 64 pledged support for the strike. “People are really energized,” said sophomore Hai Binh Nguyen, of the Stanford Asian American Activism Coalition, one of more than 30 groups making up the coalition. Money for war will mean cuts in services that many Asian-Americans depend on, Nguyen said. Jeramie Scott, of the Stanford NAACP chapter, said, “War will affect us in one way or another.”

More than 5,000 middle school, high school and college students rallied at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Thousands then packed the state Capitol to deliver their anti-war message to state political leaders. The events were organized by the Pro-Peace Project, a coalition of 18 student groups. “It was a really good day,” said organizer Youssef Sawan of the Multicultural Students Coalition.

About 1,500 students at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville staged a noon walkout and rally. Aaron Johnson, of the Progressive Student Association, which initiated the event, told the World his group’s recent meetings “have probably been the biggest on campus for a registered student group.”

At the University of Central Arkansas, in Conway, 200 students participated in anti-war events. Graduate student Rachel Harmon, who organized the events with a few of her friends, said they had thought maybe 10 students might attend “here in the Bible belt.” She told the World. “As a Christian, it’s clear where I’m supposed to stand. George Bush declared it a divinely sanctioned war. Come on!”

In Reno, University of Nevada students held a day-long peace camp on the Student Union lawn. The day included an anti-war “election,” with a ballot: “I vote no to war, I vote yes on increased money for education.” Stewart Stout, 18, of the Reno Anti-War Coalition, told the World budget cuts for education are an issue throughout Washoe County. In Fallon, sixty miles east of Reno and home to Fallon Air Base, students at Churchill City High School staged an anti-war walkout and marched through town.

In Missoula, Mont., 120 students left classes at Hellgate High School to attend a rally that featured a reading of Sen. Robert Byrd’s recent anti-war speech and the mock ballot. The turnout was “for sure more than we expected,” said senior Ledah Wilcox, 18. “We ran out of ballots.” Chris Carlson, 18, told the World this was his first protest, adding, “I don’t see at all how the whole war thing is going to benefit us.”

At Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, Calif., students staged a walkout and “die-in,” in which they painted their faces white and wore signs reading, “An attack on Iraq will result in deaths of thousands of innocent people.” Junior Kate Amos, 16, told the World, “I’ve been really surprised how excited people are about it.”

UCLA students walked out of classes and converged in “free speech zones” as part of a day-long series of events organized by Students for Global Peace and Justice. The student government passed a resolution opposing war on Iraq last week.

At the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, Students for Peace held an open mic and letter-writing session, then formed a human peace sign, said student Amanda Flatt. “This is by far the biggest protest since our first one last September,” she said.

At Yale University, where unions are staging a one-week strike and many classes are being held off campus to avoid crossing picketlines, the Yale Peace Coalition organized an evening forum that connected war and working people’s issues, said sophomore Amelia Frank-Vitale.

The author can be reached at suewebb@pww.org

Originally published by the People’s Weekly World

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