Middlebury Students Participate in Washington, D.C. Protest

Author: Nicolas Emery

On Jan. 18, 2003, 23 Middlebury College students joined approximately 200,000 activists for a peace rally in Washington, D.C. Wellington Lyons '04 organized the Middlebury trip to Washington and put up anti-war posters around campus advertising the rally.

The crowd braved freezing temperatures and wind, gathering on the National Mall to hear various speakers express their anti-war sentiments. Among the speakers was the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

"Let's choose minds over missiles and negotiation over confrontation," he said. "We are not finding out about security, we are finding out about hegemony and oil and defense contracts. We deserve better."

Following the rally on the Mall, the crowd marched through the streets of the capital, chanting and brandishing signs for peace. The destination of the march was the Washington Navy Yard, a military installation in Southeast Washington.

A symbolic "people's inspection team" demanded to inspect the site for weapons of mass destruction, mocking the United Nations inspection teams in Iraq.

Lyons found out about the rally in October and by Winter Term his outrage with the Bush Administration's handling of the situation in Iraq resulted in organizing the trip to Washington.

"I felt that if I ignored this opportunity to express my dissent," he said, "I would have no right to criticize the war once innocent civilians started to die, or once American soldiers started losing their lives."

Samuel Padgett '06, another College student who traveled to Washington, expressed his concern over the crisis in Iraq: "I believe the imminent war with Iraq is motivated more by politics and business than by national security."

Eighteen of the Middlebury students rode to Washington in a bus caravan organized by Central Vermont Peace and the remaining five rode in a student's car.

Tickets for the bus were originally $55 each, but after contributions from campus groups The New Left and the Progressives, the round trip cost was reduced to $25.

The Middlebury group left the College Friday night and returned Sunday morning.

There were no reports of violence or confrontations during the rally.

Rebecca Leaphart '03 reported, "Though I did not witness any violence, I did take note of protesters protesting the peace march."

This included several men in suits standing in a balcony holding American flags and a banner reading "Go Home Hippies."

The group of Middlebury students and other Vermonters sported stickers and wore shirts reading "Vermonters for Peace." Lyons carried a stop sign which he modified to read "Stop War."

The rally in Washington was only one of dozens organized in 25 countries by the group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER). Japan, Pakistan, Russia and Egypt were a few of the countries that had citizens who participated in anti-war rallies.

In the United States the major rallies took place in Washington D.C. and San Francisco. The San Francisco rally is estimated to have drawn a similar number of protesters as the one in Washington.

According to CNN.com, ANSWER organized transportation from more than 200 cities in 45 states for the two rallies in the U.S.

This rally was not Lyons' first experience with activism.

He participated in an anti-war rally in Washington shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, and several anti-globalization rallies since then.

Currently he operates an e-mail list which notifies Middlebury students of upcoming protests and events.

"I believe that a war with Iraq right now would be nothing short of a crime against peace, a crime against the people of Iraq and a crime against the international community at large," said Lyons.