Editor’s note: According to LUCAP, the activities in the Quad were not a protest. Organizers say it was a demonstration. The headline has been changed to reflect this. We at The Maroon regret this mistake.
A tour of potential students walking through the Peace Quad Monday afternoon came face to face with a group of black-clad bodies lying on the ground, as another Loyola student stood over them displaying an American flag.
As Loyola University Community Action Program members lay with chalk outlines around their bodies and a Gabriel Faure requiem blared through the quad, Cade Cypriano, a political science sophomore and Maroon editorial columnist, walked up and taped an “Ignorance in Action” sign to the ground in front of them.
Students participating in Global Justice Week through LUCAP were lying on the bricks in front of the statue of Saint Ignatius of Loyola to represent the people who have died in the Iraq War.
The conflict between Cypriano and LUCAP escalated, said LUCAP adviser Rick Yelton, when LUCAP president Willie Peragine, sociology senior, and Landis Niernberger, history junior, laid on Cypriano’s sign.
“He just set the sign down … and walked away,” said international business freshman Zach Harrison. Cypriano then returned and tore up the sign LUCAP had put up for their demonstration, Harrison said. Cypriano said no one laid on the sign, but signs were torn.
“She (Peragine) wasn’t like you can’t be here or anything,” Cypriano said. “She just made a rash decision. We both acted in a rash manner.”
Eventually Cypriano stood silently amid the LUCAP students, an American flag in hand, as a crowd of about 100 students, staff and faculty gathered around, took pictures and exchanged opinions about the confrontation.
“It’s not a pro-war protest at all,” said Cypriano. “It’s about the noble nature of America’s foreign involvement.”
Cypriano said instead of lying on the ground in black, students should be standing tall in solidarity carrying the flag.
“I think it’s disrespectful to the fallen to think that they died in vain,” Cypriano said. “(LUCAP) didn’t protest the Iraqis that died before we were involved,”
Yelton, standing with the demonstrating students, countered Cypriano, saying, “We’re here because we love Americans like we love Iraqis – like brothers.”
“To be honest, I don’t find American values to be antithetical to valuing humanity,” said LUCAP member Jennifer Rudolph, political science sophomore.
As the crowd grew and tensions became strained, Yelton called University Police. At the gathering, Lt. Angela Honora arrived and stood with other officers near the scene. “I’m just trying to make sure it stays peaceful,” she said. No police intervention was required.
“We need to have a discourse about this war. We just can’t forget about it,” Yelton said.
Students engaged in such a discourse throughout the quad.
Visual art freshman Heather Miranne, wearing an “I love my Marine” T-shirt, walked to Cypriano and said, “I’m glad someone’s standing up for the right position.”
Miranne has a cousin and a brother in the Army, as well as both former and current boyfriends in the Marines. “They’re doing what they want to do and I support them,” she said.
Shaawn Ali, pre-med psychology junior and member of the Muslim Students Association, said, “As Muslims, we value human life … even if you don’t have a religion, humanity should be saved.” America’s current foreign policy, Ali added, is in his opinion ineffective.
As students debated in the quad, two ROTC students walked up to Cypriano and folded his flag military-style. Cypriano then stood, arms crossed, hugging the flag.
Later, after the crowd died down, other students joined Cypriano in unfolding and holding the flag, while Miranne held Cypriano’s crumpled “Ignorance in Action” sign.
“People don’t read between the lines,” Cypriano said to Rudolph. He told her LUCAP should have protested the Iraqi and American deaths that have happened outside the war.
“If it had been a perfect world, we would have protested those things,” countered Rudolph. The two eventually shook hands.
“His being there is no different than us being there,” said Rudolph, “And the fact that we can both be there is beautiful.”
Cole Adams can be reached at [email protected]. Catherine Cotton can be reached at [email protected].
