With the hope of continuing discussion and increasing awareness on campus about the war in Iraq, WesPeace has organized a teach-in this week titled “The War Abroad, the War at Home.” Events Tuesday through Friday include lectures by professors and professionals in applicable fields and a performance by the Wesleyan samba band.
“There is a striking lack of political activity on campus,” said Sacha Feinman ’05, a member of WesPeace and organizer of the teach-in. “There needs to be a public, political dialogue and bring back the debate in politics.”
According to Feinman it’s important for students to be aware of events occurring outside of Wesleyan. The occupation of North College demonstrates commitment to campus politics, but students also need to focus on U.S. politics and its place within the international community.
“The country needs to look at what’s happening in Iraq,” said Professor of Sociology Rob Rosenthal, a faculty member of WesPeace. “Over 1500 US soldiers have been killed and well over 100,000 Iraqi’s have been killed. We need to be damned sure we know why this is going on.”
According to professor Rosenthal speakers were chosen with the idea of encouraging the maximum amount of debate.
“We did not select people because they were opposed to the war in Iraq,” Rosenthal said. “They weren’t chosen because they were closest to WesPeace line. They each offer an interesting perspective on the issues.”
Along these lines, Rosenthal affirmed that while WesPeace sponsored Nader’s visit to campus, they do not necessarily share his views. His lecture was intended to get people talking about the issues. He added that while Nader’s bid for money was not supported by WesPeace, it is typical of political campaigns and noted that when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke, members of his organization asked for donations.
Plans for the teach-in began mid-way through last semester. Following Nader’s and Smith’s visit to campus at the end of January, WesPeace wanted to continue the momentum and pushed up the date of the talks.
The teach-in has been scheduled around classes and Black History Month events. According to Feinman, holding the events at these times allows more faculty and staff to attend.
“This is a forum for education,” Feinman said. “I didn’t feel comfortable asking students to choose between class and one of the lectures, especially when it wasn’t necessary for scheduling purposes.”
WesPeace is a student, staff and faculty run organization that was formed in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001.
WesPeace had been a faculty and staff organization until this fall, when Professor Rosenthal e-mailed faculty to encourage students to join.
The group holds weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in PAC 107. These meetings involve planning for future events, in addition to debates about the current events in Iraq and the overall course of U.S. foreign policy.
Leave a Reply