NION: Anti-War Voices Raised on Campuses

In a sign of growing opposition in the academic world to potential war with Iraq, more than 1,000 students and professors at local colleges spoke out yesterday at rallies, panels, and marches, vowing to step up opposition to a preemptive strike against Iraq.

"Striking first at Iraq would be both a moral outrage and a violation of international law," Nancy Kanwisher, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, told a crowd of about 200 protesters at Harvard University. "It would be the best possible way to produce more hatred of America and increase the likelihood of terrorism."

Yesterday's gatherings at Harvard, Tufts, and Boston universities, as well as Emerson and Boston colleges took place on the first anniversary of the start of US bombing in Afghanistan. They also followed Sunday's gatherings across the nation of tens of thousands of protesters organized by Not In Our Name, a grass-roots group that includes several Hollywood celebrities. Also, they preceded last night's televised address to the nation by President Bush outlining his policy on Iraq.

"This is not a onetime protest registering our moral objection to war," said Joe Ramsey, a Tufts University graduate student who organized a rally and march that attracted about 170 people. "This is a process."

The demonstrations, involving many students and professors who did not oppose toppling the Taliban, suggest that the Bush administration may find it far harder to build public support for war against Iraq.

"This is a much clearer case than Afghanistan," said Kanwisher, a professor of cognitive and brain science who did not participate in last year's protests.

In the past two weeks, more than 9,500 faculty members at universities across the country have signed an open letter opposing the war, according to Kanwisher and the Web site www.noiraqattack.org, which has sprung up in recent weeks along with www.nowaroniraq.org. Another Web site, www.nowarnoway.org, which is run by the student activist group Boston Mobilization, helped coordinate yesterday's protests on campuses around the country.

"Groups that were not sure about the war in Afghanistan are sure about this war," said Shelby Meyerhoff, a Harvard senior. "It's much more an academic community coming together."

At Harvard, silver-haired couples in expensive coats stood next to students who beat on pots and pans and carried signs saying "Earth to Bush — We don't want war." At Tufts, pickets passed out fliers that stated "no credible evidence has been presented that Iraq had anything to do with the Sept. 11 attacks."

At Boston University, students hung colorful cutouts representing Iraqis allegedly killed by US sanctions and bombings. At BU's School of Law, about 140 listened to professors Ward Farnsworth and Daniel Partan debate the legal issues involved in striking first at Iraq.

About 100 students gathered at Boston College, where they said protests are rare, to listen to Jesuit priests speaking out against military aggression.