In 1983, anti-draft students stormed President Banowsky's office in protest of the Solomon Amendment. . .

Campus protests traditionally have played an important part in promoting peace and resisting state terrorism. Born in the late '50s, I was fed a large quantity of television visuals depicting student protests throughout the '60s and early '70s against Southern white racism and the increasing body counts of the Vietnam War, napalming of Vietnamese farm families, and U.S. draft slavery. But it wasn't until 28 February 1983 that I was afforded the fascinating experience of personally attending one. At noon on that date, Students Against the Draft organized an anti-draft rally in response to the government's Hayakawa Solomon Amendment that would deny Title IV state aid to all eligible males who chose not to register for the draft with the government's Selective Service Administration.

Up to that point in time, I had served in the U.S. Air Force under three different Commander-in-Chiefs: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush Sr (who, as vice-president, had filled in for Reagan while he was on the mend). I became unsettled by my increasing familiarity with the Air Force's close military association with Britain's Royal Air Force, which bordered on traitorous. In addition to the Falklands War, "Brits" were everywhere we were. I wondered just who was whose lap dog?

My experience in AWACS and with Carter's Middle East doctrine that labeled Persian Gulf oil as "our lifeline" to be defended by "any means necessary", including AWAC support for MI-6 and CIA-installed dictators such as King Saud and Ayatollah Khomeini, troubled me greatly as the federal government made repeated attempts to reinstate the domestic machinery for draft slavery by trying to enforce a draft registration proclamation issued in 1980 by Carter. The "Defense" argument was feebly attempted by government to justify a draft. But the argument simply had no merit. From FDR to Johnson and Nixon, the draft and war have been used to bail the U.S. out of disastrous economic situations caused by the very same government policies.

When U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter Jr ruled against the government in its case against David Wayte, Hatter rightly took the judicial arm away from the Selective Service System. Hatter said the government had violated Wayte's First Amendment rights and he told the government to stop selective prosecution of draft registration resisters. So the government tried a new tactic - they passed an order denying federal funds to students who do not register for the draft. Even in those cases where they and their parents were taxpayers, students who did not sign up for draft slavery would be denied federal education assistance.

The effects were far-reaching. Government is supposed to serve people, not the other way around. People do not exist for the glory of the state. Our public servants have been given no power to dispose of our lives as they see fit. Colleges who wanted to remain free of government strings could no longer do so, as Grove City College later learned. George Washington had warned us long ago that "Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master".

The Draft Protest Rally

Students Against the Draft was a coalition of student and off-campus groups and individuals of various political affiliation who believed that resisting government and state terrorism was urgent. Hundreds of soon-to-be-disenfranchised students listened inspirationally to 7 speakers sharing their love, dedication, and bravery for peace and liberty at South Oval.

Syeed Milky, a foreign exchange student from Bangladesh, told the audience that "Fighting for peace is the most difficult battle I've ever fought". He said that he saw his government kill students and other people in his home country and that, although the draft did not affect him personally, we must make our collective voices heard for peace.

Rex Friend, a member of the National Lawyers' Guild who had worked on several draft registration resister's cases, had assisted resister Ben Sasway in his unsuccessful defense from prosecution for not registering for the draft and later saw him jailed. Friend said that hundreds of thousands of American youth refuse to register for draft slavery. He explained that the government's prosecution of draft resisters is unconstitutional because, to avoid the costs of prosecuting everyone, it seeks to punish only a select few.

Elizabeth Fleming spoke on behalf of the Society of Friends. She spoke about the people in Central America and Africa who have been mortared and shot by CIA mercenaries. Fleming envisioned a Peace Academy to promote peace and stop government from waging endless wars.

Jerry Messick, a member of Vietnam Veterans Against War, explained how the CIA invades Central American countries, bombs factories, bombs civilians, kidnaps teachers, kills children, and creates nameless graves. Messick said that U.S. corporate interests in Nicaraugua and El Salvador are responsible for the CIA presence there. He explained from a veteran's perspective how the draft uses its victim before discarding him.

Mary Long, a member of a student Socialist group, explained how the military is too often the only escape available to America's rural and urban poor. Long reminded the audience that later that night would be the last broadcast of the television sitcom "MASH". She said "Tonight when you are toasting the end of BJ and Hawkeye's war, you should be thinking about how to stop our wars".

Robert Chambers, a McDonald's manager and member of the Libertarian Party of Oklahoma, explained that individuals founded this country through battle against a British king. Our Founding Fathers said no more will people be subservient to a king; government representatives will be servants of the people. Chambers said that draft slavery violates the Bill of Rights. He also explained how draft slavery creates a caste system - "you become cold, you become iron, you become steel, you become a resouce". Chambers argued for a noninterventionist foreign policy and a military that polices U.S. borders only. "I am offering a solution", he said, "vote the Democrats and Republicans out of office".

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