While the military's duty is to serve the general population regardless the nation's political atmosphere, members of the University's Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps had conflicting feelings about the reasoning behind students' choice to walk out of classrooms yesterday in opposition of the War in Iraq.
"I have a very mixed opinion about students' justification about the walkout," said Jamie Lopez, a student in the University's Army ROTC program. "Some students that I've talked to [were] doing it just to get out of class, others [were] doing it because they dislike the military, and the rest [were] doing it for the true nature of the walkout, which is to protest against the policies that have led us to this conflict in the first place."
Depending on the reasoning, students' choice to walk out may or may not have been sensible, he said.
"To those students who are walking out for the real reason of conducting this event, then yes I would say they are justified in doing so, it's their right to protest," Lopez said. "The students that dislike the military I don't agree with. They simply just don't understand that the military doesn't create the policies that students or people in general disagree with. They just enforce them."
Major James Riley, an ROTC assistant professor of Military Science who was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and has been in active duty for 11 years, feels soldiers should not take sides on the war. He said when he puts on his uniform he feels he does not have the right to give his opinion on protests such as the walkout.
"Our service is conducted no matter what the administration at the time is," Riley said. "It's a great thing that the military is politically neutral. Whether we go into Kosovo under Clinton, or Iraq under Bush, our military service never changes regardless of what the political atmosphere is."
War veterans in the Rutgers community who served in the Iraq War or other wars could have felt disrespected by the walkout.
"Some veterans will take the walkout personally, and that's their right to do so. This could result in a counter-protest, and they have the right to do so," Riley said. "Those engaging in the walkout also have the right to do so. The walkout is a viable exercise of one's rights as a citizen, they're exercising their right as Americans."
Lopez feels determining whether the walkout was disrespectful depends on the conduct of the people attending the walkout.
"Last year I witnessed a smaller demonstration by Scott Hall [on the College Avenue campus], where students were loitering and bad mouthing the military while on a war memorial. That to me was very disrespectful," he said. "Honorable men and women gave up their lives in order for us to live comfortably in this great nation. [But] if the walkout is for our brothers and sisters in the military to get back home safely, then it is encouraged. There is nothing disrespectful with that."
Riley said he hopes the protesters educate themselves about the issues before engaging in protest, and respect the soldiers.
"No matter what the protest is, even if it's against the president, respect for servicemen should always be there," he said. "I just hope that people exercise their rights in an educated fashion and aren't disrespectful in any manner."
"In the Army there are two sides, there are officers and enlisted. No one can be on the officer side without having a four-year degree," Riley said. "Our purpose is to prepare our students for leadership roles. When they graduate from Rutgers they are positioned as officers in the Army."
It is these officers who can be deployed to places such as Iraq.
Rutgers College senior Dan MaGraph said four of his good friends who are all University graduates have been deployed and are all serving as commissioned officers, and remains uncertain about students' motives.
"Anyone partaking in such an event does so under the guarantees of the freedoms of speech and assembly," MaGraph said. "While the walkout may have the potential to be offensive, I am skeptical that [was] the aim."
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