An Open Letter of Solidarity...

An Open Letter of Solidarity…

To San Francisco State University Students Against War:

In spite of the pouring rain and attempts by the administration to stifle students’ free speech, UCSC Students Against War (SAW) organized over 150 students to march from the center of campus to the career fair, where they nonviolently prevented access to military recruiters through sit-ins and other measures. Despite the protesters’ manifest commitment to non-violence, both police and top UC administrators physically assaulted three female protesters. Nonetheless, students responsibly deescalated the situation. After about an hour and a half of negotiations and students’ refusal to back down, military recruiters left the job fair.

In the wake of this effective action members of UCSC SAW have faced severe backlash. Rightwing extremists reacted to our success with hundreds of threatening telephone calls and e-mails to SAW members and their families. Following their lead, UCSC Chancellor Denton and Campus Provost Kliger released an administrative message condemning the action. They mischaracterized our action as violent, hypocritically neglecting to mention the violence mobilized against us by administrators, police and Rightwing extremists.

Unfortunately, the reaction of our administration is not isolated. Three days after our action SFSU SAW nonviolently confronted military recruiters at their career fair. Immediately, police surrounded the students and issued them citations, barring them from their campus for fourteen days. The extreme reaction of police and administrators was an unwarranted response to the non-threatening student demonstration; clearly, it served only to suppress dissent and was not motivated by a desire to protect students or anyone else. As national student movements gain strength, school administrators have repeatedly joined forces with police to protect the interests of militarization, profit and exploitation.

As allies in the struggle against war and militarization, students from different campuses are standing together. We, as UCSC Students Against War, support SFSU SAW in their current struggle against administrative repression. We unite our efforts in order that we may strengthen them; only through solidarity will the movement against war realize its vision.

We forge this vision in spite of those who would silence us because we know what it is they protect. As administrators privilege the maintenance of order over the legal expression of dissent, they reinforce apathy and blindness over the critical search for truth they claim to support. We will serve the purposes they only profess to by exposing the mutual dependence between our universities and the military-industrial complex. We will not allow the violence and destruction of unjust wars to remain invisible.


In Solidarity,

UCSC Students Against War
April 16, 2006