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conference report
The conference was held from February 22nd to 24th in NYC and was attended by 200+ students, faculty, and people from
all over the country - and even some from Canada.
There were two fantastic blocks of workshops, which seemed to facilitate
lots of produtive discussion. The panels on Friday morning and Saturday
evening presented excellent discussion points and a diversity of opinions
and views on the "war." All the speakers I heard were fantastic.
Discussion sections were facilitated by students from all different parts
of the country and diverse political affiliations. In the first process
discussion, the proposal from Brown University - simple majority with
Robert's rules of order - passed, and was the process used for the rest of
the conference.
The Points of Unity discussion section passed Columbia's proposal with an
amendement. The following points were agreed upon:
1. We oppose this war.
2. We call for an end to racism, especially racial profiling ad ethnic
scapegoating.
3. We call for the protection of civil liberties and the repeal of
legislation which threatens them.
4. We call for the funding of education and jobs, not for war.
A proposal was passed for the next National Conference to occur in early
October in Chicago. A proposal from Brown Univ., with many amendments and
revisions, was passed providing for a National Student Anti-War Network,
with delegates from each region (caucused and voted on at the conference,
with the understanding that these delegate elections were only temorary ad
maybecanged when people confer with the rest of the regional constituency)
coming together to help coordinate and organize proposals and actions of
the National Network. It was made clear that these delegates would be
empowered from below - from their delegations - rather than from above.
It was further passed to endorse the April 20 march on Washington D.C.,
and submit a statement to organizations endorsing both the April 20 and 27
marches, stating the network's endorsement for April 20, but in solidarity
with the spirit of both marches, also calling for the unification of the
marches.
Regrettably, many action/endorsement proposals were not discussed at the
conference due to lack of time; however, every effort was made in
decision-making sessions to hear *all* discussion, concerns, and opposing
viewpoints - priority was given in the stack to those with dissenting
opinions. Straw polls were used frequently to judge the mood of the room,
and in many instances, delegates voted for further discussion of proposals
even though the dissenting minority as small, so that everyone felt like
their concerns were aired and their voices heard.
What I personally (Jessie Kindig, People for Peace Anti-War Coalition of
Columbia University) got from the conference was very inspiring; all of
the activists still involved are in for the long haul, and are anxious to
expand the movement forward, and are not so concerned with divisive
sectarian issues. There was a general spirit of compromise, of tolerance
for a spectrum of political viewpoints, and of unity of purpose. Everyone
I talked to was very inspiring - and it was nice to meet people who I had
just talked to through email and chatroom organizing listservs. All the
informal or formal discussions I had were centered around the idea of
expanding the movement in the US - building on experience from previous
anti-war movements - and of connecting the anti-war movement to other
social movements (such as global justice or end the death penalty) in
order to become a unified and powerful voice.
- NYC Conference Organizing Committee
