The Hawk

Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: News

The rally brought out many people from the Vietnam War era.

Saint Joseph's University students marched with thousands of other avid demonstrators from across the country at an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 27. Nineteen students and three University employees traveled to the nation's Capitol to be part a of movement displeased with President Bush's recent call for a troop escalation in Iraq.

Catherine Seward, '07, organized the event, which was sponsored by the Office of Campus Ministry, the Faith Justice Institute and the College of Arts and Science. Seward said she received emails from Faith Justice expressing interest in taking a Saint Joe's group to the rally. The Student Budget Allocations Committee (SBAC) funded the three vans and the flyers that were put up to advertise the trip.

The St. Joe's demonstrators left from Wolfington Hall at 8 a.m. and arrived at the rally by 10:30. They listened to the speakers talk from a stage set up in front of the reflecting pool with the Capitol building in the background. Then at 1 p.m. the group walked with the other demonstrators around the Capitol.

Charles Wester, '07, one of the three seniors who went with the group, said the rally had an atmosphere reminiscent of Vietnam War protests.

"It was mostly people from the Vietnam era," he said. "A lot of adults 45 and older. There were some students also, but the crowd was definitely an older generation."

Russ Johnson, an adjunct professor in the English Department who went with the group, agreed.

"It was an impressive variety," he said. "There was an age gap between the older generation and college students. There were not as many people in their '30's and '40's. I think it signifies a generation shift."

Some people in the crowd carried pictures of servicemen and women who have died in Iraq. Others carried mock caskets draped in American flags through the crowd. More than 3,000 U.S. troops have died since the Iraq war began in 2003.

Wester said he saw signs that read "Let's try Bush for War Crimes," or "Impeach Bush, but he also saw signs reading "Republicans Against the War" indicating that the crowd was somewhat mixed politically.

"It was not all left-wingers," he said, but added the rally was hijacked by socialists and gay rights demonstrators. There was also a group of about 40 counter-demonstrators supporting the war and calling the anti-war demonstrators unpatriotic and terrorist sympathizers.

Continued...

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