HIPJ Readies Walkout Plans in Case of War

Members of the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice (HIPJ) for the past week have been planning and seeking pledges of participation for a University-wide walkout to be conducted in the event the U.S. goes to war with Iraq.

Organizers said they hope the walkout on the first day of any offensive move by the U.S. will demonstrate that considerable opposition to such military action persists.

“We will continue protesting the loss of innocent life throughout the war,” said HIPJ member and walkout organizer Shelby J. Meyerhoff ’03. “But we want to mark a very sad day, and inspire people with the hope that we will continue to work for peace.”

In flyers distributed outside the Science Center last week and e-mails circulating over House and dorm lists, HIPJ has asked students, faculty and staff who disagree with the decision to begin the war to walk out of their classes at 12:30 the first weekday following any declaration of war or the commencement of bombing.

Those who walk out will then gather at the John Harvard statue in the Yard for an anti-war demonstration.

Protesters will then be offered the option of joining HIPJ in participating in other protests and anti-war rallies being conducted in the Boston area, according to organizers.

An on-campus vigil is planned for later that evening.

Time allowing, the national context and rallies held before the walkout could increase the event’s visibility to a level where it might have a significant impact, organizers said.

“It’s important to see that the walkout is not just directed at Harvard or Harvard students,” said HIPJ member and walkout organizer Daniel Dimaggio ’04.

“We’re hoping it will be effective because it’s not a common thing for students to walk out of their classes in large numbers, and similar things are being done across the country,” said HIPJ member and walkout organizer Matthew R. Skomarovsky ’04. “Hopefully, it would be very visible, and very powerful.”

A student group which was created last year shortly after calls for retaliation began in the wake of Sept. 11, HIPJ came up with the idea for the walkout last week when members heard that similar actions were being planned across the country.

On Tuesday they began recruiting participants, and by Friday they had signed up more than 200 College and graduate students—a response they said they found encouraging.

“We got over 200 signatures from just three days of tabling outside the Science Center and sending around an e-mail, so that’s a pretty good amount, and we’ll be stepping up the campaign in the coming weeks, assuming war hasn’t begun,” Dimaggio said.

Although some Harvard faculty and staff agreed to participate in the walkout, HIPJ members said they were told that many who would have liked to be involved did not join because pledge forms were titled “student walkout.”

The group is currently in the process of individually contacting those who have expressed interest in other anti-war efforts—such as the No Attack on Iraq petition, which garnered more than 100 faculty signatures—and asking them if they are interested in either canceling their classes or opening them to a discussion of the ramifications of the war at the time of the walkout.

“Ultimately, we’re hoping the walkout doesn’t happen because the war doesn’t happen. But we’re preparing for the worst,” Skomarovsky said.