“WESLEYAN!”
“Look, she goes to Wesleyan!”
“Where’s the Wesleyan group? I love protesting with you guys, you’re so much fun, you always have your samba band with you…”
These are only a handful of the comments that my Wesleyan sweatshirt evoked at the anti-war protest in Washington last Saturday. Over the course of the day close to 25 people approached me with nothing but praise for Wesleyan activism. Most asked me where the Wesleyan contingency was because they wanted to protest with us. My response? “I’m sorry, Wesleyan actually didn’t send a group down.”
What happened to Wesleyan? On Friday, as I prepared to leave for Washington, many friends commented that they wished they were going but unfortunately hadn’t even heard about the protest. I apologize. I should have organized buses to go.
Then again, maybe I shouldn’t have. The anti-war effort didn’t end after the war began, but at Wesleyan it slowly began to fall apart. Critics claim that the Wesleyan activist core is composed of individuals who don’t really care about the cause but love the idea of being activists. Are they right?
Last weekend there were nearly 250,000 people in Washington and while a few Wesleyan students and alumni were scattered throughout the crowd, the expected contingency was missing. Is it because nobody organized buses? Or is it really because we have forgotten about the war in Iraq?
I will tell myself that it is the former and next time I will organize the buses. In the meantime, I look to revive the political advocacy that Wesleyan students are known and respected for. If you’re interested in joining me, send an email: jfox@wesleyan.edu. But please, let’s not stand together to live out dreamy visions of the 60s. Let’s join together because we believe in a cause and are determined to institute change.
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