Students, faculty and community members marched through campus Friday protesting the Iraq War.

The group stationed themselves on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Fourth Street and holding signs that read “Drop Tuition, Not Bombs” and “War is not Pro-Life.”

Others chanted slogans like, “Bring our troops home,” and “One, two, three, four end this oil war.”

Eastern students and Haiti Connection members Kevin Harris and Diana Iocco organized the march.

“Some of us were fed up with the war and decided to do something,” Harris said.

Protesters had varied reasons for participating, but all were united in the view that troops should be brought home.

“It’s really important to stop this war as soon as possible,” said Charleston resident Barbara Lawrence. “Our soldiers and Iraqis are dying.”

Keith Taylor, an Eastern alumnus, echoed the sentiment.

“President Bush has said there is no Plan B, John McCain has said there is no Plan B, republican members of Congress have said there is no Plan B,” Taylor said. “If plan A isn’t working, and there is no Plan B, then why are we still there?”

Fifty-two students, professors and community members gathered at 4 p.m. at Newman Catholic Center, before marching down the middle of campus and eventually ending up outside the Army Recruitment Center on Fourth Street.

Several members of the Armed Forces watched from the doorway of the recruitment center about 15 yards away.

“I’m glad they’re out there doing their thing,” said Staff Sergeant Brian Draper. “Even if it means that they don’t like what we’re doing. We fight for the freedom of our country to allow them to do things like this.”

The signs protesting the war didn’t bother him, either.

“I don’t see anything out there that says anything bad about anyone,” he said.

Some protesters felt that the current state of the war made for a timely protest.

“I think the climate is changing in America,” said Maurice Tracey, an English graduate student. “A few years ago, you would be labeled as anti-American for speaking out. People are starting to realize that this war isn’t what it was made out to be.”

The opinions of onlookers were mixed. Some honked and waved in approval, while others yelled things at the protesters, including calling them hippies.

“Whether or not you believe that we should be out of Iraq, or whatever your beliefs are, I just think you should be able to speak your mind about them,” Iocco said.

Harris and Iocco saw the event as an attempt to create a growing level of activism on Eastern’s campus.

Earlier efforts to create similar events had fallen through, Harris said.

“We said, ‘What can we do right now with two weeks left in the semester?’ We thought we could reach out to more people and be seen by more people in a short amount of time by doing a march.”

Eastern’s students have been referred to as apathetic in the past, Iocco said.

“I just hope that students and people in the community see that we’re active and come out to join us next time,” she said. “When there’s a group of us, we can make a difference.”

“A college campus should be a place that’s full of ideas,” Harris said. “We’d like to see people come out, stand up against the norm and be heard.”