Purdue students hold 'teach-in' in response to former President George Bush's visit

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Former United States President George W. Bush was scheduled to visit Purdue University's campus on Tuesday, as part of outgoing Purdue University President Mitch Daniels’s final Presidential Lecture Series event.

With his impending arrival to campus, students from the Young Democratic Socialists of America at Purdue and members from the Greater Lafayette Democratic Socialists of America responded with a call to action, in hopes of “letting Purdue know we do not tolerate war criminals on our campus.”

On Monday night, organizers held a teach-in event where they showed “Why We Fight,” a 2005 documentary by Eugene Jarecki, which showcased a period perspective of the relationship between the Iraq war and its connection to the military–industrial complex.

Before Monday night’s event, a representative from the dean of students and two police officers approached organizers and informed them that students will only be able to protest at the Engineering Fountain on Tuesday.

Organizers initially planned to meet in front of the Engineering Arch at 5:15 p.m. and march across campus to protest at Elliott Hall of Music, where former president Bush and Daniels would be hosting their discussion.

Organizers met restrictions campus police have put on their demonstration. The Journal & Courier was told prior to the event that the media would not be allowed to attend the Daniels-Bush discussion.

“I think the main reason why I was so passionate about organizing this was because, the official narrative that we're getting from Purdue administration about why George Bush is coming here is that he was an arbiter of freedom and that he was a successful president,” said Paige Frazier, an American Studies graduate student and member of the GLDSA.

“From their sort of talking points, you wouldn’t know that there was any criticism of George Bush during his presidency or after. So, we really just wanted to provide that narrative of controversy and criticism and this sort of war criminal status that he really achieved for himself in his presidency and after.

“We wanted to bring that to a public forum, especially for students that may not have been alive at that time. For students who may not be getting the whole truth.”

Around 40 people from the Purdue community – students, faculty and Greater Lafayette residents – held a lengthy discussion on the relationship that the military–industrial complex holds with private industries as well as public institutions, like Purdue University.

“I was thinking on similar lines when they ("Why We Fight Documentary") were drawing a connection between private industry and the private industry’s role in the military-industrial complex and how that’s really close to home here at Purdue. We have Lockheed Martin, we have Boeing on campus, and you know, they just happened to come under Mitch Daniels's presidency,” said one student during the discussion portion of the event.

“So not to speculate on what role Mitch Daniels played in that but I think it really brings it close to home, especially with what’s going on tomorrow.”

“I have since come back to Purdue from a different institution. I did graduate school up in Michigan and there’s just, the rot, it was almost instead being able to recognize that coming back to Purdue. I did my undergrad here and I didn’t really have an awareness of I guess that sort of rot and then going to a place like Michigan which has much more rich critical campus discord. Like that’s a thing other institutions had that Purdue doesn’t seem to have,” said one graduate student in attendance.

This notion of “rot”, ultimately led to a discourse of criticism aimed at Purdue, in hopes of trying to narrow down an answer of what intrinsically was brothering those in attendance.

Graduate students highlighted how the institution actively hinders grad students from attempting to unionize or create a discourse about the issues they are facing with the community on campus.

Students of color expressed their frustration on how it feels like the university hides behind a veil of inclusion, but ultimately in order to receive any help from the university students are encouraged to step in line and play by the university’s rules in hopes of getting ahead.

One student expressed concern with the contradicting nature of Daniel’s achievement of not increasing the school tuition for the past decade – highlighting how it may have opened the institution up to address the need for income through alternative means.

“A lot of people like the idea of the tuition freeze, but the tuition freeze means that then more money has to come from somewhere else or classes have to be cut.”

Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue students hold 'teach-in' in response to Bush's visit