Wesleyan students march for peace

Who would have thought that a committed group of Wesleyan students and staff could convince the Middletown Common Council to include a resolution to consider passage of an anti-war resolution, on the agenda of Monday's (December 3) Common Council meeting.





Protestors and peace walkers Ashley Casale and Michael Israel prepare for the march.


But they did.

Wespeace, the Wesleyan students for peace organization, marched from campus to City Hall, and then to the military recruitment offices in the Metro Square Shopping Plaza off Main Street, and presented the draft resolution and petition to Council Representative Bob Santangelo, who happily accepted it, and promised it would be on the agenda. A good reason to attend the Council meeting on the 3rd. Remember, public comment is at the beginning of the 7 pm meeting.

BTW, the trip down High and Main was uneventful except for a single, thick-necked asshole leaning out the window, flipping the bird and shouting, "George Bush is the man, cocksuckers." Ah, Middletown.

\The group then proceeded to the military recruitment offices in Metro Square, where a security representative informed them that we were trespassing, and could not display signs on private property. Several minutes of polite discussion with the security officer and the Middletown Police followed, with the police concurring that the security officer had the right to ask the student group to leave. Several students decided to stay and to try to present their questions and comments to recruiting officers, but the recruitment offices were locked. After a half hour of waiting, during which students and police officers debated the right to gather and express opinions, three recruitment officers arrived. One refused to speak to the students. Two others accepted printed material. When it appeared that the offices would remain vacant, students debated the appropriateness of a sit-in, and decided that they would return when the offices were open.