THE UNIVERSITY has dealt with its fair share of protests and controversies in the past couple of weeks -- from the living wage controversy to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy -- because of groups working to raise awareness in colleges. However, while students have been correctly protesting inequalities within the University, student involvement in national issues needs to improve. Monday marked the third year anniversary of the Iraq war with small, yet still potent, protests around the world. Students cannot make their voice heard with silence -- University students who oppose the continued occupation of Iraq must continue to show highly visible solidarity against the policies Iraq war.
In 2003, around 200 protesters from student and local groups showed their cohesion against the 2003 invasion of Iraq by staging a walk out and march, ending with an assembly in front of U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode's Main Street office to formally express concerns about the invasion. There were some mishaps during the protests -- seven protestors were arrested and some demonstrators decided to block traffic during the march, angering some drivers. Additionally, counter-protests also occurred, with one student dressing up as Saddam Hussein to thank the protestors. However, overall, the protests demonstrated the full power of the University's opposition to the haphazardly planned preemptive invasion.
Protests before 2003 have also been effective in affecting the University's image and policies. Demonstrations during the Vietnam War led to a statement in front of 4,000 students by the then University President Edgar Shannon urging students to write to their senators denouncing the Vietnam War. After that meeting, the University was known for being a college in which most of the students and faculty were united in opposition to the Vietnam War.
The University's activist side, much like the nation, has been more subdued than it should be in light of the continuing mismanagement and ineptitude of the war. The third anniversary of the start of the war has come and gone with high disapproval among students but with only a limited number of University students actively and visibly campaigning against it. The small group of students currently protesting is not enough -- concerned students at the University need to show louder and more visible support for reform than they did during both the 2003 campaign and Monday's protest.
This is not to say that there were no recent protests in Charlottesville. On Monday a group of very dedicated antiwar protestors showed up once again on the South Lawn with signs and chants against both Bush and the war. In an interview, Sarah Lanzman, board member for the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice and member of the organizing committee for the March 20 protests, said that around 250 total people came to protests this year, with approximately 60 students from both the University and high schools around Charlottesville.
Unfortunately, many of the protestors made more unrealistic demands, primarily chants of "Impeach Bush" and immediate withdrawal, but otherwise the protests were more of a disapproval of the continued occupation in Iraq and a call for alternative options. Additionally, according to Lanzman the protestors received much better welcome than in 2003, with no arrests or even counter-protests.
While that number has been an improvement from a dismal 55 total protestors last year, University student protestors need to improve their numbers until they can have enough numbers to successfully convey their message through the media.
One possible way to improve protest numbers would be to combine several student groups together that oppose the occupation to protest at the same time, much like the 2003 protest. Additionally, protest organizers could provide speakers who could provide alternate views to the current Bush administration policy. Finally, protestors could organize under a more general message of demanding other options to the current administration's Iraq policies than the more unrealistic banner of "Impeach Bush."
Students against the continued occupation of Iraq need to make sure that this anniversary is going to be the last one. Sometimes subtlety is not the solution, and the fact that more students and citizens of Charlottesville are standing up than the previous years does show a positive trend. However, all students at the University who opposed the war or who believe in a timetable for a phased withdrawal, or even an immediate withdrawal, need to make their voice heard much louder if they want it to end.
Adam Silverberg's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at asilverberg@cavalierdaily.com.
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