Memorial Chapel was filled to capacity Friday night as Ralph Nader and Patti Smith advocated an end to the war in Iraq and encouraged students to become more politically active. Their visit was the first of a series of events sponsored by WesPEACE to promote sustained opposition to the war in Iraq.

Smith, a renowned poet and musician, began the event. She spoke with a mix of candor and humor, urging the audience to protest the Bush administration.

“We must be willing to stand up and fight,” Smith said. “We need to fight the Bush administration’s policies. We have a document called the Declaration of Independence, which is too hot for them to handle. It counsels us to be vigilant.”

With these words in mind, she sang “Grateful,” telling the crowd that she was grateful to be at Wesleyan.

“You must be a thorn in the side of our current policies,” Smith said at the end of her performance. At that time, Nader took the stage and Smith continued, “Here is one of our best thorns.”

Nader wasted no time in giving his opinion about the current state of our government.

“We are gathered here to discuss this criminal, unconstitutional war, which if put into context, the context of the last 30 years, is a reflection of corporate power,” Nader said.

According to Nader the “corporate machine” is constantly present in our everyday lives— in the media, what we wear, how we think, and even what we consider values. He also highlighted what he considers a growing disparity between America’s upper and lower classes.

“We need to relearn what civic freedom means,” Nader said. “It is a fundamental freedom, meaning that elections are not for sale, that the environment, children, and politicians should be off-limits to commercialism.” He added that students should e-mail their representatives with concerns and suggestions.

He emphasized that the most daunting aspect of current American politics is that there has been almost no public reaction to what he thinks is a dangerous concentration of power.

“[The current administration] is using the flag as a gag in people’s mouths,” Nader said. “We’re down to a one-party dominated system. And when your own election becomes selection, the next step is coronation.”

He then turned to the topic of the war in Iraq. According to Nader, the war is unconstitutional because Congress is the only body that is able to declare war. Following Sept. 11, 2001, Congress surrendered this right to Bush in the War Resolution Act.

According to Nader, the best way to end the war in Iraq is through a withdrawal over the next six months, followed by six months of humanitarian aid and international peacekeeping.

“But for this to happen, people have to want it to,” he said. “This can be accomplished through the use of public education, marches, sit-ins, and even just interrupting meeting, making your dissention known.”

Many students agreed with his message and were glad for the opportunity to hear him speak.

“Honestly, [Nader] is really excited to speak here, and it’s been great to see the faculty and student involvement in the event,” said Margo Fernandez-Burgos ’08, a WesPEACE member and volunteer at the event.

Other students expressed their concern with Nader’s policies and decision to run in the 2000 and 2004 election.

“I feel incredibly conflicted,” said Rebecca Mintz ’06. “I definitely understand where a person could get to his beliefs. But his decision to run for President and campaign doesn’t make sense to me.”

In the question and answer part of the event Nader explained that he decided to run to challenge the current two-party system.

“I think Bush took away more votes from Gore than I did in 2000,” he said. “And as for 2004, I decided that if I was going to run, I was going to run in all 50 states. If you’re a candidate you need to run all out. It is a self-imposed requirement.”

This response was not satisfying to some students who remained furious with his decision.

“I’m really angry at Nader,” said Rachel Kiel ’07. “I had hoped to forgive him after his speech tonight. But I still think that he’s irresponsible. He put us all in danger by running and I want him to explain himself.”

At the conclusion of his speech, Carl Mayer, Nader’s campaign advisor, addressed the audience and in an auction-like fashion and began asking for donations to their campaign. He started the bidding at $1,000, which went down to $500 and then $250 when no one from the crowd responded. Patti Smith donated the largest amount at $250. Following the bidding, a collection box was passed around.

Some audience members were surprised by the emphasis Mayer gave to donations.

“I was just thinking that I’m in church,” said Naomi Green ’05. “We’re in a chapel, a collection box was passed around, and even Nader just said ‘I don’t want to feel like I’m giving a sermon.’”

One of the faculty organizers of the event discussed Nader’s requests for money.

“This is politics,” said Professor of psychology Kelly Anthony, a member of WesPEACE. “Democrats worked hard to keep him off the ballot and there are many suits against him. There are third party difficulties and campaigns are expensive to run. I’m just disheartened that students walked away with these impressions.”

Over 150 people were turned away after the chapel reached its capacity of 600. The event even attracted people from as far as Rhode Island.
“Me and my grandfather voted for Nader in 2000 and 2004,” said D.J. Dunning of Warwick, Rhode Island. “But after the 2000 election, Nader disappeared. That’s why it’s important to see that he’s doing this national tour.”

The event ended with a final plea by Nader and song by Smith.

“Do not exaggerate the effort it takes to make change,” said Nader. “Restore the rumble of the people.”