Academics, Students Rally Against Impeachment

As articles of impeachment move toward a vote in the House of Representatives, students and academics at several colleges have come to the defense of the beleaguered president.

Tuesday's rally at Harvard was one of several held on campuses across the country. Also on Tuesday, 250 Princeton students protested impeachment. On Monday, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison joined 750 New York University (NYU) students in urging the House not to impeach the president.

The vote on impeachment was planned for today, but postponed last night by the House leadership after American forces began bombing Iraq.

Incoming Speaker of the House Robert L. Livingston (R-La.) said last night he expects the vote to be delayed by several days.

Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz, one of the organizers of the Harvard rally, said yesterday that the opponents of impeachment would continue to "keep the pressure on" over the next few days, despite the delay.

He said that in addition to short-range plans, such as the planned rally today on the steps of the capital, he will be pushing for more demonstrations on college campuses against impeachment.

"We had a tremendous reaction from everybody", Dershowitz said of the Harvard rally. "It worked so well we're urging other academics across the country to do the same thing".

There is a tremendous anti-impeachment sentiment that has not been organized", Dershowitz said.

Speakers at the Harvard, NYU and Princeton rallies focused their criticisms on the conduct of Independent Prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr and what they say is a debasement of the Constitution, using impeachment for political ends.

Novelist E.L. Doctorow, one of the speakers at the NYU rally, compared the Starr investigation to the McCarthyism of the 1950s.

Students at the Princeton rally chanted "one, two, three, four, nothing but a sex war", The Daily Princetonian reported today.

Both the Princeton and Harvard rallies also attracted impeachment supporters. At Harvard, a handful from the University and from Boston University held a counter protest, saying the president's alleged perjury demands impeachment.

But Princeton Professor of Economics Alan S. Blinder, one of the speakers at the Princeton protest, said he estimates opponents of impeachment outnumber supporters on campus by a ratio of about 10 to 1.

Blinder said he opposes impeachment in his capacity as a citizen, not as a tenured professor at one of the nation's top universities.

"I'm an economist. This is not my field of expertise," he said. "I was only speaking [Tuesday] night as a citizen."

Dershowitz stressed that the rallies were intended only to oppose impeachment, not to show support for Clinton. Many of the speakers at the Harvard rally distanced themselves from the president's policies, but insisted they opposed impeachment nevertheless.

Dershowitz said that because students at most universities are already on break, it is a difficult time of year to organize rallies. He said that at some point, he hoped to see larger protests modeled on the Harvard rally.

We're going to try to put together a major national event based on last night, of scholars and academics across the country, to demonstrate that this is a cultural war between thinking people and fundamentalists," Dershowitz said.

Blinder agreed that more organized protests are necessary to win over a House that appears to favor impeaching the president.

"What we need is thousands of these [rallies] across the country, people letting our representatives know what we think," Blinder said.

Other luminaries who have spoken out against impeachment at campus rallies include feminist Gloria Steinem, actor Alec Baldwin, former Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel.

Wire dispatches were used in the compilation of this story.

But Princeton Professor of Economics Alan S. Blinder, one of the speakers at the Princeton protest, said he estimates opponents of impeachment outnumber supporters on campus by a ratio of about 10 to 1.

Blinder said he opposes impeachment in his capacity as a citizen, not as a tenured professor at one of the nation's top universities.

"I'm an economist. This is not my field of expertise," he said. "I was only speaking [Tuesday] night as a citizen."

Dershowitz stressed that the rallies were intended only to oppose impeachment, not to show support for Clinton. Many of the speakers at the Harvard rally distanced themselves from the president's policies, but insisted they opposed impeachment nevertheless.

Dershowitz said that because students at most universities are already on break, it is a difficult time of year to organize rallies. He said that at some point, he hoped to see larger protests modeled on the Harvard rally.

We're going to try to put together a major national event based on last night, of scholars and academics across the country, to demonstrate that this is a cultural war between thinking people and fundamentalists," Dershowitz said.

Blinder agreed that more organized protests are necessary to win over a House that appears to favor impeaching the president.

"What we need is thousands of these [rallies] across the country, people letting our representatives know what we think," Blinder said.

Other luminaries who have spoken out against impeachment at campus rallies include feminist Gloria Steinem, actor Alec Baldwin, former Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel.

Wire dispatches were used in the compilation of this story.