The War in Iraq might have sparked many debates since it begun, but five years later, students feel there is more to discuss.
Tomorrow's walk out will urge students to leave classes and participate in an organized anti-war protest.
"The reason why we organized this walk out is to give the Rutgers community an opportunity to express their feelings against the war in their local community instead of making the long trek to Washington D.C," said Suzan Sanal, an organizer for the protest and a member of Rutgers Against the War.
Ian Chinich, a Rutgers College senior, said the reasons for participating in the walk out are obvious.
"The war will be going into its fifth year soon and most Americans, Iraqis and soldiers are sick of it," he said.
"The only thing we have done in Iraq is allow for the government to subjugate the Sunni minority, create death squads, re-open torture chambers, while we kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis deliberately or in 'collateral damage,' while over a million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes," Chinich said. "We are taking a stand and reinvigorating the student antiwar movement."
Many students feel that "walking out" amidst a class is a waste of education and is disruptive towards other students.
Sanal, on the other hand, feels that this protest will inspire colleges across the nation to take similar action.
She said that many ask why the protest is taking place in New Brunswick and not in Washington D.C.
"I want to say that this war does not just affect the Washington D.C. and New York City communities, where national protests have been held, but here too," Sanal said. "We are bringing the anti-war message to a community and a university that needs to hear it."
Sanal believes that demonstrations need to be local and the walk out is an opportunity for all to participate.
"A waste of time is an understatement when trying to express the absolute preposterous nature of this 'walk-out,'" said Jason Belzer, Rutgers College junior and member of the board of directors for The Centurion.
"A university is a place of academia and not a battlefield for social justice," Belzer said.
"If individuals feel that there is something in the government's policy that so vexes them that they are propelled to protest it, that remonstration should come at the disadvantage of individuals who do not agree with them."
Belzer added that "these very individuals whom have long prided themselves on practicing civil disobedience are inherently undermining the very foundations of that idea, and concurrently the educations of those around them."
Sarah Clader, a Rutgers College junior, said she believes that the protest and education do not conflict at all. "Education should be about teaching people how to be active members of a democratic society," she said.
Along with Rutgers, 70 other schools around the nation are said to participate in similar protests, Chinich said.
"We want to see a student anti-war movement result from this walk out," Sanal said. "To build a strong student resistance to this war, we need to make ourselves visible, and the best way of achieving this is to organize while class is in session and we have the attention of thousands."
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