GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Protesters confront Albright again
By Malcolm Cummins
Washington
Students at George Washington University weren't about to
let this opportunity pass: Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright was being invited to give the commencement address
on May 21. Albright is probably as hated by the new
generation of activists as Richard Nixon was during the
Vietnam War.
To make it even more enticing, World Bank President James
Wolfensohn was being given an honorary degree by the
university. One student commented, "Mad banker, mad bomber,
mad students!"
The students were following the example of UC Berkeley
students who had protested against Albright two weeks
earlier.
GWU professor Tom Nagy helped by writing a scathing
indictment of the U.S. sanctions against Iraq, Cuba, and
Yugoslavia for a slick folded brochure that cleverly posed as
the day's program. Able to get close to Albright as she left
the stage, Nagy challenged her on the sanctions against Iraq.
Nagy said Albright shot him an "angry and surprised look" as
she rushed to her limousine.
Fifty additional supporters from the International Action
Center and the D.C. Coalition to Stop the U.S. War Against
Iraq brought picket signs and distributed literature.
When the secretary got up to speak, a group of graduating
students with anti-WTO stickers on their gowns rose to leave.
But when one young woman with a protest sign was pulled out
of the crowd by the police, the 10 graduating students went
to the back instead and stood in solidarity until the police
released her.
Workers World talked to Afsi Khot, a graduating student
who is with the GW Action Coalition. She said it was
"reprehensible that graduating students are forced to listen
to hypocrites who try to brainwash them. We won't stand for
it."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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