West Lafayette, IN – On Monday, March 2, over 30 protesters gathered in front of the Armory on Purdue University campus to protest the illegal war on Iran by the United States and the apartheid state Israel.

The protest was held in front of the Armory because that is where Purdue ROTC is based, where military recruiting takes place on campus, and is a longstanding symbol of the militarization of the academy. Purdue University has strong, historical ties with major military contractors and eagerly pushes engineering students to work for these companies after graduation through a well-established pipeline. 

The protest was organized by the Purdue chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), with support from the Purdue chapter of YDSA. Speakers were invited from SDS, YDSA, and the West-Lafayette Revolutionary Student Front

SDS member Tavish Bryan led the protest with chants including, “From Iran to Palestine, killing children is a crime!” “No more sanctions, no more wars! We won’t stay quiet anymore!” and “Trump wants war, Trump wants oil! Hands off Iranian soil!”

“I'm a teacher, and one of my students asked me today, 'Mr. Tavish, did World War III just start?' and I didn't know what to say to them. Can you imagine what the students in Minab would be asking? They might be asking the people who are still alive, 'Why are all of my friends dead?'” Bryan said, referring to the elementary school bombed by the U.S. on the first day of the war.

Protester Ellen Newkirk Jahoda stated, “As someone who's constantly scared of something like a school being shot up, the idea of your school being bombed is just terrible, especially when [schools] are supposed to be a safe space for everyone.”

Purdue has already been implicated in attacks on Iran before this war even began with its illegal, de facto admissions ban of graduate students from China, Russia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Cuba, and most notably, Iran. Graduate students from these countries have already been deported in some cases, creating an atmosphere of dread and terror among those left. 

This ban is spearheaded by the bootlicking Provost Patrick J. Wolfe, who explicitly stated that he will not sign the final admissions for any graduate students from these countries. The university wants to have its cake and eat it too. By leaving the policy unwritten it hopes to leave intact its progressive bona fides and attraction of international talent, while also maintaining servility to the Trump administration.

The provost and his ilk cannot hide behind verbal instructions and closed doors forever, because every day more and more people wake up knowing they must dismantle the war machine in all its forms.

If you want to join that fight, contact SDS at Purdue on Instagram, or join our weekly planning meetings, held at Haas Hall room 101.

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