Approximately 200 students walked out of class Thursday morning to protest military recruiters on campus.
The late-morning protest began as a rally on Bascom Hill, turned into a march around campus with a standoff between pro- and anti-war demonstrators and finally culminated with a sit-in outside UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley's office.
\This should be an educational institution, not an open door for the military to prey on people that can't afford an education,"" said recent UW-Madison graduate Bill Linville, who helped organize the protest.
""We believe that military recruiters should be off campus [and] that money should be going toward educational needs,"" Linville said.
Wiley has already taken a strong position on allowing military recruiters on campus, saying in an address last Thursday that recruiters have as much right to be heard as anyone else.
""As with any other 'speaker' on campus, people in the community can choose to go to hear the message or to refrain from attending, but 'choice' is the operative word,"" he said.
UW-Madison sophomore Ashok Kumar, chair of the Associated Students of Madison Academic Affairs committee, said despite Wiley's firm stance on recruitment on campus, the fight must continue.
""[Wiley] can take hard lines on anything,"" he said. ""The fact is, if you have a big enough movement, he's going to have to succumb.""
The day's most heated exchange took place when the protest clashed with another demonstration led by members of the College Republicans. The two groups went nose-to-nose in front of the recruiting center located in University Square, each chanting their respective mantras.
Nicole Marklein, a UW-Madison senior and chair of the College Republicans, said the counter-protest was formed to voice the other side of the military-on-campus issue.
""[Our demonstration] is in response to their walkout, but we just want to make it kind of a separate, really positive thing to show that that's not the voice of all of the students,"" she said. ""We appreciate our troops, we appreciate the ROTC program.""
The rally ultimately ended outside of Wiley's office, where students demanded a meeting with the chancellor to discuss their concerns.
According to UW-Madison freshman Stephanie Jung, who was instrumental in organizing a meeting time, Wiley will hear student demands April 20 at 3:00 p.m.
