Students Protest Bush in Boston

Cloaked in the black robes of the Grim Reaper, members of the Harvard AIDS Coalition (HAC) joined a crowd of thousands outside of Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel last night to denounce President Bush as he arrived for a fundraiser.

The HAC, which blames Bush’s intellectual property policy for making AIDS medication unaffordable in the third world, chanted “Bush and pharma sitting in a tree, killing people with HIV.”

Other Harvard groups such as the Harvard College Democrats, the Harvard Socialist Alternative Club (HSAC) and the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice (HIPJ) converged on the intersection of Arlington and Boylston streets where they faced off against the Harvard Republican Club (HRC) and other Bush supporters.

“We think it is important for people to realize that Bush is taking the country in the wrong direction,” said Gregory M. Schmidt ’06, the campaign director for the College Dems, who organized the group’s excursion.

The HAC members concentrated their efforts against Bush’s policies on generic AIDS medication and pharmaceutical companies by dressing as Grim Reapers.

“The Grim Reaper is overworked because of Bush’s AIDS policies,” said Sarika P. Bansal ’06, the president of HAC. “President Bush pretends to be compassionate but he’s blocking access to affordable generic AIDS medications for people dying in Africa and around the world.”

The members of the College Dems were equally aggressive in their rhetoric as they brought posters with slogans such as “Worst President Ever” and “Iraq: $87 billion. Tax cut: $3 trillion. Getting Bush out of office: Priceless.”

HRC members, who were among the small group of Bush supporters at the protest, responded with posters of their own. “Beantown is Bushtown,” one poster read.

Though the College Dems and the HRC antagonized each other throughout the protest, it was mostly good-natured.

“I’m really just here to have some fun and let Bush know that he can’t just roll into Boston and not expect to face any opposition,” said Eric P. Lesser ’07, a member of the College Dems.

Stephanie N. Kendall ’05, a member of HRC and the communication director for Massachusetts Students for Bush, said she was proud of the support from Harvard and other universities in the state.

“I think the student turnout has been really fantastic,” Kendall said.

While the majority of the Bush protestors were supporters of Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., there was a small but strong contingency of independents who expressed displeasure with main-stream parties in America.

“It’s not just Bush the guy, it’s the Democratic and Republican Parties in the U.S.,” said Johnhenry R. Gonzalez ’06, a member of the Harvard Socialist Alternative Club. “I’m very interested in seeing who is open to the very controversial idea that the Democrats are not an alternative to Bush.”

The protesters screamed and yelled for hours, but never got a glimpse of Bush, thanks to heavy security and a police barricade that kept onlookers a good distance from the entrance of the hotel.

“Bush isn’t out here, but there is a lot of excitement and I guess that’s what really matters,” said Geoffrey D. Kearney ’07, a member of the College Dems. “I was hoping Bush would arrive and we could give him a hard time about his policies.”

While no Harvard students were arrested, several other protesters were apprehended by the police for disorderly conduct.

At 7:00 p.m., the HAC members walked to the back of the hotel after hearing that Bush might be exiting from there.

The members were quickly deterred however, by a strong security presence.

“The riot police are scary,” said Tina M. Valverde ’06, a HAC member. “We don’t want to get arrested.”

At one point during the protest, the HAC members engaged in a fake shouting match with some of the members of HIPJ who were dressed as “Billionaires for Bush.”

The “Billionaires for Bush” mocked Bush’s policies by donning tuxedos, drinking champagne, and smoking cigars as they shouted statements such as “Lower the minimum wage” and “Profits before patients.”

Kathryn E.C. Berndtson ’06, one of the HIPJ members who was dressed as a billionaire, was glad she came.

“It was one of the most fun protests I’ve been to,” Berndtson said.