Lying on the ground dressed in black, members of the Loyola University Community Action Program had their second annual die-in March 26 to commemorate the 4,000 U.S troops and more than 81,000 Iraqi civilians who have died during the five-year war in Iraq. The event, held in the Peace Quad, was part of LUCAP’s Global Justice Week.
“As an organization committed to Jesuit values, we should stand out for those who maybe aren’t represented as much,” LUCAP associate chairwoman Kathleen Warner, Spanish junior, said.
The die-in’s organizers made some changes to this year’s event. According to Warner, LUCAP made very explicit its goal of promoting the dignity of every human life in the demonstration. Also, to avoid problems such as last year’s, when a confrontation broke out between LUCAP members and students who disagreed with the demonstration, LUCAP asked University Police to send an officer to the event.
In another change, LUCAP placed a free speech board near the St. Ignatius statue where students could write their thoughts.
“We do want to encourage dialogue among students about the war to get them talking about it,” LUCAP chairwoman Danielle Gaubert, sociology senior, said.
The format of the die-in changed as word began to spread around campus that Christopher Gregory, criminal justice freshman, was on life support at the hospital following a brain aneurism. LUCAP’s members opted to tone down their deathly image of lying on the ground by sitting in silence throughout the rest of the demonstration.
LUCAP was not the only group holding an event related to the war that day. Campus Conservatives of Loyola, a new group officially chartered at the beginning of the spring semester, also set up in the Peace Quad.
Biology junior and Campus Conservatives president Laura Duncan said the group “hopes to open up a more balanced ideological dialogue by creating a nonpartisan avenue for conservative ideals.”
Campus Conservative hosted the event “Support Our Troops,” in which the group sold yellow ribbons to show support for military men and women. Proceeds from sales will go to the USO.
LUCAP knew about the event and asked Campus Conservatives to move to a different location, since LUCAP members were concerned that Campus Conservatives’ message would make it seem as if LUCAP were not supporting the troops.
“I felt that having a ‘Support our Troops’ table next to our demonstration would look like two opposing messages were being presented and imply that we did not support the troops, which was not our message, Gaubert wrote in an e-mail to The Maroon.
“Supporting the troops does not mean supporting the war, and being against the war does not mean being against the troops,” Gaubert said.
Campus Conservatives had a similar message regarding the war. Duncan said the group “wanted to send a unified message of respect and remembrance for those who serve our country, especially those who have lost their lives in conflict.”
“We felt that our events were separate expressions of a similar sentiment, and that our method was more respectful and proactive,” Duncan wrote in an e-mail to The Maroon.
The groups came to an agreement and Campus Conservative held their event on the Danna Center porch, behind LUCAP’s demonstration. Duncan said Campus Conservatives found out about Gregory near the end of the event, and then joined LUCAP in prayer for the student.
Andrea Castillo can be reached at [email protected].
