Imagine that you're sitting in class at approximately 2 p.m. in New Cabell Hall, taking a test. As you figure out the formula to that brain-splitting problem, a horde of deafening students congregate outside the hall, run inside your class and turn of the lights, yelling into your classroom. Thursday last week, this description was the case for many people during the protest against the war in Iraq, when several rogue students broke off from the protest and took to the hallways and classrooms of Cabell Hall. These students' disruptive antics were a disgrace to the nature of their protest and camouflaged the point they were trying to make in a melee of earsplitting chaos. Future protestors must never use these tactics around the University during class periods again.
The original protest was not designed to take place within Cabell Hall. The students who partook in this repugnant actions acted on their own accord. The behavior of these student protestors was appalling at best. They clearly had no respect for their fellow students. Some students were taking exams during the disruptive protest, and others were simply trying to learn. After all, students pay tuition to have the privilege of sitting in class and being taught by experts. Any minute lost, especially by an event such as the avoidable and obnoxious protesting shock and awe tactics are our tuition dollars being stolen from under our noses.
The intolerable character of some of Thursday's protestors tainted the nature of the demonstration, as well as leaving a bad precedent for future protests. The University's administration cannot allow any proceedings which will affect the learning of their students. The bad experience from this demonstration may make it more difficult for student groups to gain the confidence and approval of faculty and administrators for political demonstrations again. Protests are a vital part of our rights to express our views and ourselves. Because of the actions of some participants, this demonstration was an extremely negative occurrence for those who viewed it and hopefully, other students will not be bound by its repercussions when they wish to host protests of their own.
Another side effect of this anti-war protest is that its message was lost because of the hectic character of some students. The demonstration was held to protest the war, promote awareness of the viewpoints of several students who oppose the war and provide a public forum for like-minded students to congregate and share their opinions. The protest did bring awareness, not of why the war shouldn't be fought, but rather of how obnoxious our classmates can be when they really feel like it.
It is understandable that the students who were involved in the Cabell Hall protest would have wanted to be as loud as possible to shift the spotlight to their demonstration. However, running and yelling in the halls of the largest and highest-volume scholastic building on Grounds, as well as turning off class lights and taunting professors and students who closed their doors, is only a good way to attract negative publicity. It also abuses the leniency and goodwill the administration granted the demonstrators and needlessly disrupts students affected by the commotion and their education. An unassuming student who does not desire a political agenda being shouted at him does not deserve the fiasco that was the protest within Cabell Hall.
Ultimately, the irritating tactics involved in Thursday's protest proved counterproductive. Students were arguably neither convinced, nor even educated by the message the protestors were attempting to articulate. In addition, it's possible that students now have a negative image of on-Grounds protests and will not care to pay attention to future such demonstrations.
Thursday's protest within Cabell Hall was for all practical purposes, a disaster. It was not only unsuccessful, but probably produced more negativity than anything else. Future demonstrators must never again attempt to use such shock tactics as disturbing students engaged in learning or test taking who end up being innocent bystanders in this politicized protest. That is not a good idea for any type of demonstration and is completely unfair for students that are in a scholastic room, with the sole purpose of furthering their education. A protest like this one must never happen again.
(Alex Rosemblat's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at arosemblat@cavalierdaily.com.)
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