As many as 150 TC community members participated in a massive march and rally in New York City to protest what they perceive to be a rush to war with Iraq. They joined several hundred thousand protestors in New York City and millions more across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These rallies mark the appearance of a world-wide peace movement perhaps even larger than the movement of the 1960s.

Many of the TC participants were responding to a call by the TC Peace Committee-an organization of TC students, faculty, and staff. After assembling first at Milbank Chapel and then at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, the TC contingent marched down 59th Street to the rally site on First Avenue. The participants were so numerous that all traffic was shut down on Fifth through First avenues. When finally assembled at the rally site, the demonstrators stretched from 51st to 72nd streets. The participating groups were quite diverse, including Educators for Social Responsibility, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, NYC People of Color, NYC Labor against the War, Latinos/Latinas Unidos por la Paz, the Green Party, Democratic Socialists of America, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and American Friends Service Committee. The speakers included Rev. Jesse Jackson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Harry Belafonte, Susan Sarandon, Dennis Rivera, Danny Glover and Rosie Perez.

Leading up to February 15th, the TC Peace Committee sponsored showings and discussions of the prize-winning documentary, "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm." The week after the rally featured Dialogue Across Differences, a series of talks bringing together diverse viewpoints on whether there is indeed an international crisis involving Iraq and, if there is, what should be the appropriate U.S. and world response. Dialogue Across Differences is hosted by the TC Student Senate in partnership with the Faculty Executive Committee, the TC Peace Committee of the Columbia University Anti-War Coalition, the Peace Education Network, Educators for Social Justice, Scholars in Black, and the Peace Education Program at TC.

Published Monday, Mar. 3, 2003