Dan Flynn

Students, faculty, and staff at Hampshire College voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. government's war on terrorism. More than half of the 1,556 members of the campus community voted in the election, which took place during the first week of December, with 693 for the initiative and 121 against.

The approved declaration claims that "the 'War on Terrorism' is symptomatic of the racism of American society, in its disregard for the lives of people of color overseas, encouragement of racial, ethnic, and religious scapegoating and violence, and practice of law enforcement 'profiling.'"

The statement calls on the U.S. to battle "hunger, war, and economic injustice, the root causes of terrorism" and "demand[s] that the Hampshire administration join us in resisting any arbitrary and unfair law enforcement invasion of our own community."

The Amherst, Massachusetts vote condemning the war is the first of its kind by any college or university in the United States.

Not everyone on campus was pleased with the three-day vote. Some questioned why members of an educational institution felt compelled to comment on matters on behalf of the whole college that were unrelated to the school's mission. The school's president, Gregory Prince, noted that the referendum was organized by a student group, Students for a Peaceful Response, and not officially sanctioned. "Hampshire College has not held an 'official vote to condemn the war on terrorism,' as has been reported," Prince pointed out, "nor has Hampshire College released any statements to that effect." Prince, who believes that the three-day vote was flawed, nevertheless had words of praise for the vote. "This is liberal arts education; it is democracy; it is patriotism," he announced during the vote.

Demonstrations against the American military response have been a constant in the college town since September 11, with protests even predating an actual U.S. response. Earlier this semester, Hampshire students burned U.S. flags at a rally at nearby Amherst College.