
Students protest War on Terror on 9/11
The students walked slowly around the inside and outside of the MSC, brandishing handmade signs with anti-war slogans and garnering the attention of student onlookers.
Drop tuition, not bombs, they chanted. All we want to do is give peace a chance. No justice, no peace, no war in the Middle East.
Eleven years after the destruction of the World Trade Center and the subsequent War on Terror, about 20 USF students protested against the war and prejudice against Islam.
Beginning on campus around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Youth Working for Equal Rights (YWER) marched around the Marshall Student Center (MSC) to promote peace and call an end to the war in Afghanistan.
What we want to do is bring awareness to people, Estefania Galvis, a senior majoring in theatre and a member of the SDS, said. Theres people out there that forget that theres a war going on. How would we feel if someone came into our country and decided to bomb us? How would we feel if someone someday decided to come into our house and destroy everything?
After the first lap around the MSC, the group went inside to the atrium, where SDS member Matthew Hastings, a senior majoring in
anthropology, gave a short speech on the anti-warmessage of the groups protest. Protesters hung a large white banner from the fourth floor of the MSC, which said: 9/11 stats: 2,996 dead and $178 billionlost. War on terror stats: 227,000 dead and $3.4 trillion lost. Enough is enough.
The students continued with another lap around the MSC before returning to their information table near the Bull Runner loop around noon, where SDS and YWER members had set up a large white table with 88 black-and-white posters and flyers with anti-war messages for studentsto take.
Kelsy OMorrow, a senior majoring in sociology, participated in the protest and said the posters the group handed out were reflective of the role of the U.S. in the war.
Weve gone far beyond our boundaries and killed many innocent people, she said. (The posters) are talking a lot about oil and our discrimination against people of Muslim background and their beliefs in general.
The groups continued their protests in the afternoon, this time downtown, wherestudents joined in a publicevent protesting the
cancellation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) educational programs in public schools, a debate that has been going on sinceopponents of CAIR spoke out about its classroompresentations in February.
The USF group and about20 other people marched about 10 blocks from Gaslight Park to the Hillsborough County School Board offices, where they met in a counter-protest from a group against Islam-related programs in schools.
Marisol Marquez, a junior majoring in chemistry, said she protested for political and personal reasons.
Its been 11 years and we keep hearing, The troops are coming home, Marquez said. Not really, theyre not. My sister shes in the Air Force her husband is going to be deployed to Iraq in March, so this isnt a thing thats going away. The war isnt going away.
Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly
More usforacle News Articles
- Special guests to make an appearance on campus
- A Profile: Sarah Lucker, new SG Senate President
- Students will see increase in free printing
- Possible budget bill blowback: Marshall Student Center
Recent usforacle News Articles
Discuss This Article
MOST POPULAR USFORACLE

Men's golf wins AAC for fourth consecutive season By Josh Fiallo, Sports Editor

No. 21 USF baseball sweeps season series against Bethune-Cookman with 5-3 win By Brian Hattab, Staff Writer

Special guests to make an appearance on campus By Alyssa Stewart, STAFF WRITER

USF wins series over UCF after back-to-back wins By Josée Woble, Correspondent
GET TOP STORIES DELIVERED WEEKLY
FOLLOW OUR NEWSPAPER
LATEST USFORACLE NEWS
- USF athletic director Mark Harlan gets three-year extension on contract,...
- Men's golf wins AAC for fourth consecutive season
- No. 21 USF baseball sweeps season series against Bethune-Cookman with 5-3 win
- Special guests to make an appearance on campus
- Men's golf one disaster-free round away from winning AAC Championship
- USF wins series over UCF after back-to-back wins
- Cut for the Cure: More than just a Sunday baseball game
OUTSIDE THE LINES
- Home-Brewed Coffee That's As Good As It Gets
- Stop What You're Doing And Download These Free...
- It's Good To Be Prepared For Bad Weather
- The ABCs Of IBD Treatments
- Become Credit Savvy And Help Better Protect Your Identity
- Teen Driving Tips: Five Ways To Stay Sane
- Increasing IBD Patient Participation In Clinical Trials
- Empowering The Energy Leaders Of The Future
- What To Binge Watch
- Hearing Loss Need Not Be A Struggle For All Involved
FROM AROUND THE WEB
- If You're Stuck at Sea, There's An App for That
- A Simple Test to See If You're Up to Installing Your Own...
- This Subscription Box Helps People Do Good and Feel Good
- MovoCash Embraces Culture of Community
- Gifts to Give on Administrative Professionals Day
- How to Defeat A Clog
- American Winemaking Family Continues with Next Generation
- Boat Insurance Basics May Help You Stay Afloat
- Life's Biggest Moments Take Center Stage in New UP TV Series
- Scuba Diving Brings Health, Hope to Injured And Disabled
COLLEGE PRESS RELEASES
- Cengage Partners with Phi Theta Kappa Foundation to Offer Free Cengage Unlimited Subscriptions to College Students
- THE POPPY WAR
- Cosmopolitan Roots: Keynote and Q&A with Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah
- CENGAGE AND REDSHELF STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIP WITH CENGAGE UNLIMITED, INCLUSIVE ACCESS
- 4 Reasons Why You Should be Working for Avid4 Adventure