Hundreds of students walked out of their classes in protest of the war at 2:30 p.m. Thursday ­ an event that ended in a protest outside the Eugene Federal Building almost two hours later.
The walkout, coordinated by Students for Peace, began in the EMU Amphitheater and included live music, slam poetry and a variety of speakers.
After all the presentations, the crowd marched through Downtown Eugene, stopping at the Federal Building. The crowd formed a circle and stood silent to remember the troops and the reasons they were protesting the war.
The only opposition the marchers faced throughout the day were people inside and outside greek houses along East 11th Avenue yelling remarks such as, “Fuck you guys” and “go Bush.”
Shayna Snyder, a sophomore at the University, spoke during the first part of the protest in the
amphitheater.
“No more business as usual,” she said. “Inaction is silent support of the status quo and I will not sit back and support the status quo if the status quo is unjust.”
Snyder said she was happy with the turnout of students at the walkout, but said more students should have participated. She added that while she understood missing classes could be difficult for students, she believed the war was a higher priority.
“This is what history feels like,” she said. “And if we go down
in flames, then I want to go
down fighting.”
University student Van Peterson also spoke out against the war. Peterson was in the U.S. Army for three years, and opened his speech by reading a selection of quotes by members of Veterans for Peace.
“N. Dale Thompson served in the Navy for 22 years, from 1957 to 1979,” Peterson said. “This is what he said: ‘Some of my friends think that we are not supporting the men and women in uniform if we protest the war. I tell them we are supporting them in the only way that shows we value our lives more than we want to stroke the ego of one spoiled rich kid.’”
Peterson also spoke about the effect that depleted uranium has on people, and encouraged the crowd to keep focusing on peace.
“Standing up against this war is the most patriotic thing you can do,” he said. “Power to the peaceful.”
Peterson and Snyder, along with most of the other speakers, also spoke on supporting the troops. Snyder said she could not think of anything more supportive than bringing troops back to the United States.
Peterson agreed, adding that war protesters should not be intimidated by people who say they are not supporting the troops.
Political science Professor Jane Cramer also spoke about democracy.
“This is democracy,” she said, motioning to the gathered crowd. “History did not have lots of democracy, and the world is much, much bloodier for it.”
Cramer added that although the country is at war, she hoped peace was not totally lost.
Amy, a student at Lane Community College who did not want her last name used, spoke to the crowd through slam poetry. Amy read two pieces of her slam poetry, each expressing her frustrations with the war in Iraq, President Bush and media portrayal of anti-war protesters.
“Call me an enemy,” she said, “because patriotism does not define my morality.”