Why Walk Out?

On March 20, students at over 80 high schools and universities around the United States walked out of class to protest the war in Iraq on its fourth anniversary. Included in that assemblage were 76 Drew students. As someone who attends many club-sponsored events at Drew, I can tell you that that’s a pretty good turnout on a campus often accused of being riddled with apathy. However, what I have to say is not really about student body apathy or numbers. I want to share why the walkout and the rally that followed it were invaluably important to me, to my friends, to my adversaries, to the social climate of this school, to the learning process at Drew, and to the town of Madison.

When my friend Rich sent out an e-mail to the list serve of Drew Students for a Democratic Society urging us to start organizing a walkout in solidarity with other schools across the country, I was eager to get the ball rolling. As someone who helped organize and participate in a walkout from my high school on March 5, 2003, before the war in Iraq had officially been waged, it upsets and disgusts me that not only was my voice ignored by those in power back then, when my fellow students and I advised that there were not WMDs in Iraq and that Saddam Hussein was not an immediate threat to our country, but that they have continued to ignore it year after year, protest after protest.

I don’t go to protests anymore because I think the government actually takes notice or gives a fuck what I have to say. I go to protests because I need a space to share my frustration and sadness, my hope and knowledge with other like-minded people. I think that the walkout at Drew on March 20 truly embodied and exemplified such an event.

After reading Rich’s e-mail, I did some googling to find out what other schools were doing. I was directed to SDS: March 20 Student Day of Action Against the War Blog, where at the time over 70 schools were sharing their organizing strategies. One that I particularly liked was to create a facebook event site for the walkout. Inspired by the recent success of the Democratic Party in online grassroots organizing, I took the initiative to put the event on the Drew facebook network, and invited all of my friends.

At first the response was positive but mild. However, on the second day of the event being posted, some pro-war invitees posted on the event wall to say that they felt that the walkout was not supportive of American troops. I and some other anti-war students wrote back defending our position that being against the ideology of the war does not contradict supporting the soldiers who fight it. Over the next five or so days, the wall of the event became a fertile breeding ground for this discussion to be elaborated upon. People from many walks of life and many political affiliations took part in it. When I suggested that a more appropriate forum for the discussion would be in a facebook group devoted solely to a discussion of the war, some of the dialogue spilled over there, while it also continued furiously on the event page. I received and sent many personal messages and e-mails with people on both sides of the discussion, people who I had and still have never spoken to face to face.

Watching the spontaneous, organic creation of this online community, tense as it sometimes was, (and is, the event may be over but the discussion isn’t) was, for lack of a better word, really cool. Having so many students from different clubs, teams, graduating classes, dorms, etc participate in meaningful dialogue about something they were so passionate about was beautiful, even when I felt personally frustrated with having my political views offended.

By Monday night, the eve before the walkout, there were two groups making plans: the anti-war ralliers and the pro-war ralliers. Separately we made signs, planned strategies, and discussed our passion for the cause. The community was no longer on the internet, now we were sharing ideology in person.

On Tuesday, we walked. I won’t go into the details of everything that happened that afternoon, there are too many, but here are some of the events from that day which are most meaningful to me:

- Sitting in a circle in the courtyard of the UC, sharing stories of friends and family who are or have been stationed in Iraq. Sharing concerns for veterans’ physical and mental health, sharing concerns about the security of our country and others around the world. Reading aloud statistics, newspaper articles, poems, and blog entries about the war.

- Marching into town with my fellow students, waving signs and playing instruments, chanting, talking to shoppers and shop-owners and receiving approving honks from drivers passing by.

- Receiving the support of many of the professors and administrative staff at Drew

- Bonding with 75 new friends

Some people I spoke with before the walkout said they weren’t sure if they could come because they didn’t think they could afford to miss class. My friend Kristin was one of them, and while we marched past the library she confided “I’m skipping my test to be here right now.” “Good for you,” I replied, “Which will you remember in 10 years?” Other people told me that they definitely would not be coming because they attend Drew to learn, and that is their priority. I would like to remind these people that learning is not an activity confined to a classroom or mandated solely by an approved institution. Learning is life. I learned more about myself, my peers, my faculty, and the town of Madison on Tuesday than I’ve learned in weeks of going to class. Maybe semesters. In the words of Mark Twain, “I never allowed schooling to interfere with my education.”

Today, Wednesday, as I again browse SDS: March 20 Student Day of Action Against the War Blog
and read and view the actions that took place at schools across the country, it warms me to see that despite the feelings of isolation that sometimes brew when I view what is often an apathetic campus, I am not alone. There are hundreds of thousands who agree with me, and on Tuesday we made a statement. And while of course it is our desire for the government to take notice of our views and to act upon them, that’s only one reason to walk out. The personal satisfaction and empowerment of communicating with so many people in such an impassioned way is why it was worth it for me to walk out. Why did (or didn’t) you walk out?

- Robin