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March 20, 2003
War prompts renewed activism on Stetson campus
By CINDI BROWNFIELD | News-Journal Education Writer
DELAND — Stetson University student Takeata King Pang ditched chemistry class halfway through it Thursday morning to "walk out on the war" and rally for peace.
The peace activists met again a few hours later for a philosophical debate with a group of students who support the war on Iraq.
While far from the campus protests seen in the United States during the Vietnam era, student activism – both for and against the war – seems to be gaining steam at Stetson.
Peace demonstrations have been held three weeks in a row. The College Republicans countered with a "Support Our Troops" rally. And about 75 students, faculty and staff turned out for Thursday's debate around Holler Fountain.
"This is the biggest thing that's happened at Stetson in a long time, in terms of activism," said junior John Mills, 20, who organized Thursday's class walkout after attending a peace march in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.
The growing activism at Stetson mirrors what's happening at colleges across the nation, said Juliette Niehuss of the liberal Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that tracks student peace rallies. The young activists relate the war to the slow economy and rising tuition, and many have friends who are serving in the military, Niehuss said.
"Students are largely the generation that's going to be affected for the next 10 years," she said.
She said if people begin seeing casualties among Americans and Iraqi civilians it will only strengthen the activist movement.
Time will tell if activism – for or against the war – will make a comeback to the level seen by 1970. Research shows college students feel disengaged from national politics, although interest picked up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The absence of a draft may also have an effect.
But this generation is able to organize itself more effectively through the Internet, said Florida State University communication professor Andrew Opel, an expert on social activism. Plus, Opel said, today's students are viewed as more articulate and informed than the stereotypical "tie-dye wearing, long-haired, dope-smoking hippies" of Vietnam protests.
Except for Stetson, other area campuses have been quiet so far. A small group of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students handed out anti-war pamphlets and organized a candlelight vigil – but met resistance from fellow students at the largely conservative school.
"There's so much opposition to us that we tend to gravitate to activities off campus," said senior Jesse Wells, 26, vice president of the Green Party chapter at ERAU. "We feel a lot more comfortable and safe if we leave our campus."
While campus activism has been relatively tame to this point, it's important to note most Americans – including students – supported the Vietnam War in its first three years, said Len Lempel, a history professor at Daytona Beach Community College. This war has just begun.
"We haven't felt the impact," Lempel said.