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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Walk Out: De Anza College students, including Evelyn Gomez (center), march through the campus in protest of current immigration polices and to demand an end to the war in Iraq.

Protest rally is held on De Anza campus

By Cody Kraatz

About 100 De Anza College students and faculty marched through campus on May 1 to protest U.S. foreign policy and the treatment of immigrants in this country.

Organizers scheduled the protest for May Day, a widely recognized day to honor labor movements and rally for immigrant rights. Students were encouraged to walk out of classes to join the lunchtime march, carrying signs and shouting multilingual chants.

They ended up in the busy main quad of the campus, where hundreds of students pass through, eat lunch or socialize.

"If the public sees what the issues are, perhaps they will participate. If they care about the issues or they want to know what they are, they can ask," said Francisco Soberanis, a De Anza animation student who rushed to attend the march because he had missed on previous ones.

"I gave my students the choice--we could either carry on with the schedule or join the protest. I am glad to say that the overwhelming majority of my students chose to march, so we did," said Wendy White, a De Anza humanities professor who praised the audience and spoke of the interconnectedness of humanity.

Several teachers, teachers and alumni pressed the audience to get involved with a handful of social justice causes ranging from an immigration rally later that day to environmental activism.

"Take a stand. It doesn't have to be a big huge stand, but do something," said Ben Kline, world and environmental history instructor.

"It's a festival of awareness about everything that's going on in our country that we're not doing enough about," said Bobby Flores, an event organizer and member of Students for Justice.

Campus police officers followed the march and watched the event, but there were no problems.

English teacher Karen Chow called for solidarity with Latin American immigrants.

"They don't want to leave their homes. They don't want to leave their families," she said, arguing that U.S.-brokered trade agreements such as NAFTA are responsible for the poverty that brings Latin Americans to the United States.

The event was organized by the Students for Justice club, the Muslim Student Association and the college's Office of Community and Civic Engagement, which provided $200 for drinks and pizza. Some students around the campus reacted with shouts of support, while others simply watched.

Students for Justice tries to organize one rally this size each quarter, said Rehana Rehman, vice president of the club. In March, the club arranged for a bus and took about 40 students to San Francisco to protest the war in Iraq.

Students for Justice meets Tuesdays from 12 to 1:30 p.m. in room AT-202 at De Anza, according to the college website.