Freshman Ember Fleming admits she's never seen anything like the 100,000-person-strong anti-war rally in Washington D.C. Sept. 24.

"I've never been to a protest or rally before so it was so exciting to see everyone together for a purpose."

Fleming was one of 38 McDaniel students who attended the protest through the Peace Club and Amnesty International student branch. The majority were freshmen and sophomores.

Peace Club president Colleen Leary '05 considers the number a victory.

"It's a little hard to reach people," Leary said. "People tend to stay in their own bubbles or they don't think they can have an impact."

But she believes that is starting to change.

"I think there's a shift toward questioning things that have been going on for so long now," Leary said.

 

The Peace Club meets every other week and hopes to generate awareness that will lead students to become more active on campus and in their communities in the future. The club's adviser, Spanish Professor Tom Deveny, says there is a small but solid core of activism on campus.

"There is a nucleus of people interested in social justice and environmental issues," Deveny said. "It's nice to see students caring about the world."

Junior Kate Chilson also attended the protest. As a member of the Environmental Action Club, she says it's easy to get students worked up about activism on campus but hard to keep them interested. While Chilson doesn't feel campus activism is necessarily on the rise, she does notice classmates becoming more aware of world events.

"The biggest thing that makes you feel like things are changing is the individual people. There are sometimes people who are so excited that it draws others into it," Chilson said.

The Environmental Action Club is organizing tree-planting events this semester and is hoping to find more ways to recycle paper on campus.

Coordinator of the Writing Center Lisa Breslin also attended the rally. Breslin says she's seen a surge in activism and believes it boils down to three reasons.

"When there are issues -- as those issues escalate, so does the activism. Professors may inspire students to become active. And many college students now are old enough to have rallied with their parents when they were young."

That was the case for Maaret Klaber, who attended rallies with her family since she was very young. Klaber met her mother at the protest in D.C.

"I've been to many rallies in my life, but this is the first time I've gone with the school," Klaber said. "I can't let what's happening in the world happen and sit idly by."

Klaber is also the Vice President of the College's Amnesty International Club. Its goal is to promote awareness of social, global, and human rights issues locally and around the globe. The Amnesty International Club meets 9 p.m. every Thursday in Ensor lounge.