In opposition to the presence of military recruitment on campus and escalating financial costs of the conflict in Iraq, some students will be walking out of class at 11:00 a.m. today.
\We want to highlight opposition [to the war] and show that students care about the issue,""said UW-Madison fifth-year senior Miguel Leon, a member of Stop the War, a student organization opposed to the occupation of Iraq. ""We can make a statement to the university and also to the city that we're out here bringing people together.""
Stop the War organized the event in conjunction with Green Progressive Alliance, Student Labor Action Coalition, Multicultural Student Coalition, International Socialist Organization and other student groups.
After the students walk out, they will convene on Bascom Hill to listen to rapper Jon Henry perform. Afterward, Jane Jensen, leader of Military Families for Peace and members of the student organizations involved in the event will speak.
Additionally, petitions against the conflict in Iraq and military recruitment on campus will circulate and be presented to UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley and Gov. Jim Doyle.
""Regarding military recruiters or ROTC, I don't know exactly what it'll be,"" Wiley said. ""But let me just say at the outset that this is a place that welcomes free speech on essentially all sides of essentially any topic,"" Wiley said. ""Anti-war activism is certainly welcome and will not be discouraged on this campus.
""On the other hand, I view the ability of those students who wish to meet with recruiters from wherever as their free speech and free association rights,"" Wiley added. ""I would just as soon they not bother bringing me demands to do any of those things that would restrict those opportunities.""
By design, the event will impact classroom attendance, a fact that has not escaped the notice of the UW-Madison professors who hold class.
""I'm holding the class. I'm not walking out and this is not a statement in support of the war,"" said UW-Madison Sociology Professor Pamela Oliver, who added students not attending her 11:00 a.m. class would receive unexcused absences.
""What we hope to achieve with the walkout is a lot of awareness on campus that the war in Iraq is still being fought,"" said UW-Madison freshman Katy Williams, another member of Stop the War. ""People are still dying daily, and it's something that our campus, as a historically liberal campus, should have an awareness of, and I think that the walkout is an attempt to raise this awareness.""
