Students Stand Up for Peace (SSUP) held a candle light vigil Tuesday, March 28, outside of Sykes Student Union for the 3 anniversary of the Iraqi war. The silence was in honor of those lost during these past three years. Students Stand Up developed before the war even began. It was formed because students wanted to have the right to speak out against topics such as the war in Iraq. President and senior, Brian Fanelli said, “[The group] stresses the philosophy of nonviolence and spreads that message on campus.”
Before the vigil at 7 p.m., SSUP set up a table inside Sykes. At the table, there was information about enlistments facts, literature about the myths and facts of the war, statistics on cost, and more. They also had causalities listed from local states including Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Along with the names of the victims from these states, the hometowns were also included.
The purpose of this vigil is “to raise and continue consciousness of the war that’s lost a lot of momentum in the public eye and keep the victims lost in people’s memory as the war continues,” says Casey Coyle, a member of SSUP. Vice-President Vanessa Holwitt, a junior, agreed and said that they needed to “raise awareness that there is still a war going on.”
With 20 participants of all grade levels scattered throughout Tuesday night as well as many people passing by stopping to read the facts, the vigil did just what it had set out to do: raise awareness and honor those who died. Sally Cramer, a senior involved with Students Stand Up, is a strong supporter of peace and said that she liked “the fact there is a general peace group on campus.”
The night began with causal conversation followed by the lighting of the candles. A circle formed and then Fanelli said a few words before the 25 minutes of silence began. Despite the sounds of traffic and people shuffling by, the participants remained silent as they honored those victims of the Iraqi war. Following the silence, some statistics were given to inform participants of some numbers they may not have known.
Students Stand up for Peace meet every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Sykes room 210. Their most recent held event was on Saturday, April 1, at 11 a.m. at the West Chester Courthouse. The protest against war was held at the Chester County Courthouse in downtown West Chester. It was held in conjunction with the Chester County Peace Movement, a peace organization for members of the West Chester community. To get involved or for more information, e-mail the Students Stand Up at studentsstandup@gmail.com.