By Emily Smith

The Macalester Peace and Justice Committee is calling for a campus-wide strike next Friday in protest of the war in Iraq. Organizers are planning a series of workshops throughout the day, which will be led by Twin Cities anti-war organizers and faculty from Macalester and the University of Minnesota, according to strike organizers.Workshop topics will include “Anti-war Feminisms,” “Philosophy of War” and civil disobedience training.

MPJC, which recently affiliated with the nationwide activist organization Students for a Democratic Society, is requesting to meet with President Brian Rosenberg in an effort to ensure that there will be no administrative reprisals for participation in the strike. MPJC-SDS members said they are concerned that students may have more freedom to strike than faculty-especially non-tenured professors-and staff.

The strike’s timing, on Nov. 16, corresponds with the date of the Iraq War Moratorium, which, according to iraqwarmoratorium.org, takes place the third Friday of each month.

“I will break my daily routine and take some action, by myself or with others, to end the War in Iraq,” a pledge on the web site reads.

“Macalester is an anti-war campus and needs to take a stand against collective inaction,” MPJC-SDS members said in a statement released to The Mac Weekly. “Colleges are historically forums for bringing about/demanding change.