College Happenings

This is from the Missoulian

A sea of homemade signs bobbed above the throng of anti-war protesters at the University of Montana on Monday, airing what appeared to be the majority opinion of 300-some students, professors, campus staff and community residents who participated in the noon-hour event on the Oval.

Among the hastily-scrawled, hand-held message boards and one artfully painted banner were these sentiments: “Bring our troops home,� “No more war,� “Peace, back by popular demand,� “Fund education not war,� and “Your country is calling George, time to come home.�

A trio of women calling themselves the “Radical Cheerleaders for Peace� warmed up the crowd and got the rally started by uniting the hundreds of voices in a “No war, Go Peace� chant.

As the sound system got wired up to dance-party music provided by an on-site DJ, an event organizer took in the scene and the ever-growing number of people who gathered together.

Ross Miranti smiled quietly, and said he wasn’t surprised by the robust turnout.

“About three weeks ago, me and my friends realized nothing was going on at the University of Montana to protest the third anniversary of the war in Iraq,� he said. “I knew that there was a lot of people here who have feelings against the war, and we felt that we had to somehow facilitate a platform for people to channel their feelings. This is exactly what we thought would happen.�

A few individual protesters arrived with drums, pounding out a background rhythm while others handed out Xeroxed copies of apocalyptic drawings.

Seeds of Peace, an Idaho-based group that supports social and environmental justice events, arrived with a food cart, providing protesters with free helpings of steamed rice and cooked vegetables.

“Food represents community, and helps people be out here when it’s cold,â€? Emily Rose explained as she helped dish up the meals. “It helps make sure people hang around and support this kind of event.â€?

Some students, like Becky Vandercar, skipped class to attend the protest. Others, like Ken King, attended the event for an English 101 class assignment, and a small minority, like Will Selph, came to counter-protest.

Aligning himself with a small pack of students who carried College Republicans Support Our Troops banners and “We Support Our Troops and the War� signs, Selph said it was important for a different perspective to be represented.

“It’s important to show and send the message that there are conservative voices on this campus and that we don’t want to be left out of this circle,â€? he said.

While few like-minded brethren showed up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Selph and his handful of friends, others did share their beliefs in a more anonymous fashion.

Messages written in blue chalk on the Oval sidewalk and other campus walkways read: “Soldiers give you the right to protest,� “Thank Soldiers 4 Peace,� and other similar statements.

Phil Reed, a UM student and Army veteran, took his turn at the microphone to share with the crowd his revelation: There are other options for solving world challenges than through violence.

Borrowing themes from conservative Republicans, UM professor Phil Fandozzi called for the conservation of the U.S. Constitution, the preservation of America’s moral traditions, the protection of privacy from intrusions by “Big Brother Bush and his ‘dis-patriot act,’ and the preservation of America’s tradition of academic and scientific freedom from political manipulation and religious fundamentalism.â€?

“Terrorism wins when fear replaces vigilance,â€? Fandozzi said. “Worry not to ‘cut and run’ from Iraq; but to ‘cut and run’ from the values and traditions that make this country great.â€?

Katie Kane, an English professor, used her invitation to speak to invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and his speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.�

Her impassioned delivery received an equally impassioned response from the audience.

“The war in Iraq is wrong, it betrays the promise of America when it tortures innocent and guilty alike, when it turns our citizen-soldiers into torturers,� Kane said. “The war in Iraq is wrong, it betrays the notion of America when it means that there is no money or will to help the homeless people of New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi.

“The war in Iraq is wrong, it overturns the promise of America when it wiretaps Americans and plays fast and loose with our civil rights.�

It is wrong, she said, when “it pollutes and corrupts the dream of America, when it kills some 37,000 Iraqi citizens, when it burns and breaks and wounds the bodies of children, when it takes the lives of over 2,400 American women and men, and wounds and maims thousands more.�

Event organizer Reed Perry wrapped up the event with a moment of silence followed by a loudly amplified recording of the song “Why Can’t We Be Friendsâ€? by the 1970s band War.

“Thanks for doing the right thing and showing up,� he said.

There’s more protesting to come, he said, every day this week at noon on the Oval.