Iraq teach-in ignites passionate debate over war By Mary Votava '05
Media Credit: Pete Johnson
A crowd of students gathered in Moore Hall last Thursday night rivaling attendance at even the most popular Civ team, filling every chair and even sending some students to the floor. It was not ancient history that drew them, but rather history in the making.
Dr. Robert Trudeau, Professor of Political Science and chair of the Political Science Department, moderated the Iraq teach-in. He began the night by noting the number of students in attendance, viewing it as, "Either a testimony to something lacking on campus or the willingness of students to take advantage of a discussion like this."
Kevin Hirten '03 first proposed the idea of an Iraq teach-in to Trudeau after identifing a lack of discussion around campus on the issue of an impending war with Iraq, especially an the absence what he saw as an informed discussion.
For some, the teach-in was an educational experience, highlighting the current situation between the United States and Iraq—a discussion some see as missing on campus. "When you're in college, you tend to lose track of the outside world," said Terence Sweeney '06 afterwards, "I definitely feel more informed after tonight." Meghan McKeever '03 agreed that the night had impacted her, saying, "I was grossly uninformed until tonight."
Though moderated by Dr. Trudeau, Dr. Susan McCarthy, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Dr. William Hudson, Professor of Political Science, came to share their insight on the situation as well as help answer questions, though both self-admittedly are not experts in the field.
Hudson and McCarthy began the teach-in with their remarks. Hudson focused on the twist of fate in the 2000 elections that brought George W. Bush to the presidency and consequently the United States to the brink of war with Iraq. McCarthy, on the other hand, attempted to relay factual information about the Iraq situation in order disperse rumors that have sprung up around the tense situation.
The initiative was quickly taken by student commentators who posed a range of concerns, among them the possibility of a reinstated draft, the cost of human life for both Americans and Iraqis, the extent to which Iraq is a threat, the link, if any, between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and the implications of the United States acting without in-ternational approval.
"A discussion like this was very beneficial to the P.C. community," Kevin O'Connor '03 said about the exchange of opinion between students on global matters. Kyle Hill '06 felt, "more informed about other viewpoints and opinions, and I feel more confident about my own opinion."
Many found themselves lacking in real knowledge about the situation, such as Bethany Holcombe '03, who said, "Though I already knew that pre-emptive strikes are not the correct course of action, I had no idea to what extent Iraq is not a threat." Another, Tom Costello '05 said afterwards, "I feel much better informed after tonight," though his position on the issue stayed the same.
Some, though still finding the night informational, found the discussion to be more one-sided than a multi-sided debate. Mike Myers '05 said, "I found it interesting that all the professors leading the discussion tended toward a liberal ideology and that there was no real argument."
An informal poll taken at the end of the teach-in showed the group of students in attendance to be overwhelmingly opposed to the United States going to war against Iraq. The voice on campus in favor of military action in Iraq, if there is one, made only a minor showing at the teach-in. Matt Sullivan '06 thought, "Maybe people who are against something tend to be more active," while Holcombe stated, "Some people who support a war against Iraq are more apathetic and therefore less likely to show up."
Regardless of who was there, a discussion about politics and the potential of war with Iraq filled an apparent void that some students have noticed at PC> "I feel a lot better about our student body," Charles Philbrick '04 commented, "Tonight there was some real discussion. People are so used to having information dictated to them…the more there is of this kind of discussion, the more empowered people feel."
One student feeling empowered was Angela Kelly '04, who afterwards took down a list of names of students interested in forming a discussion group on the Angel network to see where people's energies are going and do something about the opinions discussed at the teach-in. She said, "What was most helpful about tonight was to realize that there are a lot of other students on campus who really care about this."
Ben Ahlstrom '03, was active before the teach-in even began. Ahlstrom, after seeing signs advertising the event around campus, decided to organize non-denominational prayer for peace prior to the teach-in. He invited any of the students streaming in to participate. Ahlstrom said, "Sometimes we are not as active in supporting peace as we should be, especially considerin0g that this is a Judeo-Christian campus."
