The Wake

Names rung out in solemn, clear voices, cutting through the chilly air of early fall on the Northrop Plaza at 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 29.

Over a 24-hour period, each volunteer took approximately 15 minutes to read a section of a book that held the names of an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 1,000 Americans killed since the beginning of the war. The event was sponsored by Faculty Against War. David Bernstein coordinated the efforts of 92 volunteers, 60 to 65 of whom were faculty members.

“We want to put a human face back on the suffering,” says Bernstein, a staff member in the university’s theater arts and dance department. Since the June 28 sovereignty hand-over that took place in Iraq, news about deaths have slipped off the front page, Bernstein says.

In fact, this is the first anti-war demonstration to occur on campus since troops officially entered Iraq in March 2003. The audience for the protest was fickle, with small groups of students trailing in and out. A few at midday sat listening to headphones to drown out the stream of names.

“It’s troubling to see that there are about thirty people listening,” says observer Mike Forstein, a junior in cinema studies and media culture. “I know people have places to be and things to do, but I can’t think of a more important place to be right now.”

Faculty Against War began when assistant geology professor David Fox submitted a letter to the Minnesota Daily on Sept. 17, 2002. About 280 faculty members wanted to add their names to the letter, so it took the form of a petition and was submitted as an advertisement to the Daily and the Pioneer Press, Fox says.

Then Faculty Against War submitted the petition to senators Norm Coleman and Mark Dayton. The reaction from each senator’s office was very different, Fox says, and, while Dayton’s office was sympathetic, Coleman’s state director presented the same talking points the White House administration announced. “It was literally word for word,” Fox says.

Faculty Against War felt the need to oppose the war in this manner not only to leave a memorial to the dead in Iraq, but also to give “U” students something to think about when they head to the polls in November.

“We are all responsible for the actions of our government,” Fox says of the decision students will face this fall, “I hope it makes them stop and think about their peers in Iraq being killed and wounded. It could be them.”

The demonstration began at noon on Sept. 28 —exactly three months after sovereignty began in Iraq — and ended at noon Sept. 29. The daytime passers-by were absent during the overnight vigil, and the podium with volunteers reading names was adorned with candles lit under a full moon.

“This event is an extremely meaningful tribute,” says Celeste Pape, a public relations major. “Finally, we are acknowledging all the college-aged people and others who have died. I hope the violence will end soon.”