They stood in the shadow of the Washington Monument, shoulder-to-shoulder with Americans of every age and walk of life, convinced they were making history.
Last month, nearly 30 students from the University of Minnesota, Morris attended an antiwar march in the nation's capital to speak out against attacking Iraq. The peace rally on October 26, called The March to Stop the War Before It Starts, also became a tribute to United States Senator Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash October 25. In an emotional day of protests, Morris students captured national media attention as they marched beneath a homemade banner that read, "In memory of Senator Paul Wellstone: may his mission continue for us."
UMM students were among thousands of demonstrators who gathered near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Saturday afternoon for a three-hour rally under sunny skies. The Reverend Jesse Jackson and other speakers condemned a possible invasion of Iraq, calling it immoral and unjust, said Chris Pifer, 21, a political science major from Madison, Wis., who led the Morris delegation.
The peaceful rally culminated in a march down Constitution Avenue and around the White House, the demonstrators chanting "End war!" and "This is what democracy looks like," Pifer said. News helicopters hovered overhead as marchers formed a giant peace sign on the grass in front of the Washington Monument.
It was inspiring to be part of a huge, diverse group of Americans, all united in opposition to war, said Larina Brown, 22, a UMM biology major from Eden Prairie. She told the Washington Post that the large turnout - estimated by organizers at 100,000 - showed that "it's not just radical, anti-American people who go to these things."
Brown, who helped found the Green Party student organization at UMM, said it's important to express political dissent: "Silence is agreement. If you have the right to use your voice, you also have a responsibility to speak out." She added: "It's like being a witness. That's what the rally was about for a lot of us."
Moved to political action Religious beliefs motivated Chris Pifer, a Quaker whose father was among the 250,000 demonstrators who marched against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C in 1969. "There's a very strong belief in political action in the Quaker Church," said Pifer, a regional organizer for the rally and an intern with the Wellstone campaign.
He first read of plans for a Washington peace rally on the Internet in late September. "I thought I might be able to get four or five other students to drive out for it." Pifer, editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, mentioned the rally to student leaders and "word spread." Before long, nearly 50 UMM students had expressed interest in going.
The rally - one of several held across the United States - was coordinated by International ANSWER, a coalition of antiwar groups, which organized a pro-Palestine rally April 20. Pifer said he's not familiar with the coalition's positions on other issues, but "in terms of a message, they were right about the war, and they were doing something, unlike other organizations." ANSWER put Pifer's name and phone number on its web site. Soon, he was getting phone calls from all over the Upper Midwest.
Pifer and other participants organized several private fund-raising events to defray trip expenses for UMM students. When the group's two vans fell through at the last minute, they scrambled to scrounge up four cars and a minivan.
Packed five to a car, the students left for the rally just before midnight Friday and drove 1,200 miles straight through, arriving in Washington about 3:30 Saturday morning. They caught a few hours of sleep on the floor of a Presbyterian church in southwest D.C., then walked about a mile to the rally.
Excitement built as the crowd swelled and demonstrators chanted and sang, Pifer said. At the same time, the rally was subdued by melancholy in the wake of the fatal plane crash that took the lives of Wellstone and seven others. Wellstone's last major vote in the Senate was against a resolution authorizing a military strike on Iraq. Demonstrators, seeing the UMM students' green Wellstone lawn sign, extended condolences, saying, "We are grieving, too. The antiwar movement lost an incredible spokesman," Pifer said.
UMM students also gave interviews to reporters from the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Reuters, Knight-Ridder, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, public radio and other news outlets. Brown was later a guest on a National Public Radio program.
Mission accomplished On Sunday, after another night sacked out on the church floor, the students left Washington. Reflecting on the peace march - which Brown's parents called her "coming of age" - the students said they had accomplished their aim.
"We were successful in making our government aware that we're very concerned about this issue," Pifer said. Added Brown, who believes attacking Iraq should be a last resort: "We drew the attention of the American people; we got people to think about it."
Beyond that, Pifer said, UMM students had a feeling that they were participating in an historic event - one of the larger antiwar demonstrations in a generation. "There was a sense we were making history, that this could be the first of many protests about war in the Middle East."
For all the UMM students, the march was an emotional experience, intensified by Wellstone's death. Pifer felt the loss personally. He had met Wellstone last fall as an intern in Washington, D.C., and spent the summer and fall working on his campaign. After an event in Fergus Falls, Pifer recalls how Wellstone looked into his eyes and said, "I think we're going to win."
Working on the campaign and attending the Washington rally last month reinforced Pifer's interest in populist politics and strengthened his conviction that "democracy is focused on action." He hasn't decided on a career yet, but is thinking of something in "grass roots organizing."
For Brown, who plans to pursue a career in health care, Wellstone's death "makes me feel like I have something to live up to. His legacy must live on. Where his work ended, we must pick up and continue."
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