Press Release - March 22, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE

March 22, 2007

84 Schools Mark the Fourth Anniversary of the War in
National Day of Student Action

On March 20, thousands of students and young people across the country participated in one of the largest coordinated student protests in recent history. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) originally put out the call for schools to organize and demonstrate against the Iraq War on its fourth anniversary.

All across the United States - from the Northeast campuses of Harvard and Rutgers, to Southern schools of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Winthrop in South Carolina; from high schools in Raleigh, North Carolina to Santa Rosa, California; and Midwestern campuses in Minnesota and Michigan - students have walked out of classes, rallied in their communities, and spoken out against the war in Iraq.

Kati Ketz of the University of North Carolina-Asheville SDS, one of the lead organizers of the national day of action, said, "March 20th has turned out to be an amazing day of coordinated actions around the country against the war and occupation of Iraq. 84 schools in total signed on to the call to action, and thousands of students walked out of their classes, had die-ins, and participated in other forms of resistance in what was possibly the largest single day of student action since the Vietnam war."

She continues, "We need to continue with this momentum and keep building the student anti-war movement. This is only the beginning of a new wave of student activism. As students have been chanting, 'Stop the war? Yes we can! SDS is back again!'"

"The student movement here in Chicago is clearly coming alive. The UIC campus rally attracted some 200 students, most of whom walked out or missed classes to participate. The city-wide student and youth contingent, also about 200 in size, demonstrated strong unity and organization," said Stan Huculak of the University of Illinois at Chicago Students for Social Justice.

The U.S. has now entered its fifth year in Iraq, and the Bush administration is further escalating U.S. military presence in the midst of vast unpopularity. Bush and company plead for "more patience" on the eve of the fourth anniversary - but we have already waited far too long. March 20 was a testament to the power of a revitalized student movement, and we will continue to demand an immediate end to the war as it drags on.

Contact for more information:

E-mail: march20antiwar@hotmail.com
Website: march20antiwar.blogspot.com

Kati Ketz, UNC-Asheville SDS - 614-439-3978
Stan Huculak, UIC Students for Social Justice - 847-404-5036
Chapin Gray, Tuscaloosa SDS - 251-605-7780

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