Thirteen individuals from Bowling Green got together and went to Washington D.C. last Saturday, January 18, to participate in a rally for peace.

“Government is supposed to be representative of the people, therefore if so many people disagree with war, how are their voices being heard?” said Colette Neirouz, a junior, who participated in the peace rally.

Many people gathered in Washington D.C. that day to make their voices heard. Disagreeing with the potential war that could start with Iraq.

“The government estimates for the protest was between 30,00 to 500,000 individuals, however, I think the real number is somewhere around 200,000,” faculty member Carney Strange said.

However, these estimates could be off said Dianne Christopherson, a minister at the United Christian Fellowship (UCF), “many times the government will make the number of protesters to be a lower amount decreasing the impact of the effort to bring about change.”

Brian Rose was the organizer of the group that went to Washington D.C. for the protest.

“There were 13 people that went from Bowling Green, and this may not sound like a lot, but just to be one among so many people there made a difference, and I was amazed at the diversity of our group as well as all the people that were at the rally,” Rose said. Rose went on to say that there were people there from all different backgrounds, races, religions and ages.

“The number of people there even surprised most of the organizers of the groups I think,” Strange said. “The number of people at this gathering far exceeded the number that was at the rally in October.”

The individuals who went to Washington D.C. for the protest went for a variety of reasons. Some went to make a statement against the war.

“Initially I went to become more educated on the issues, and obviously because I feel strongly against war and do not want to see innocent people suffer because of it,” Neirouz said.

The rally consisted of a crowd of people holding signs with various slogans protesting war, while they listened to a diverse group of speakers including: Jessica Lang, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and more.

“This was a good day for the rally too because it was so close to Martin Luther King Day, which supports the idea of non-violence, which he spoke about so passionately,” Strange said.

Many of the people who went from Bowling Green were inspired to see how many people felt as passionate about the issue as they did.

“Once I got there I was just absorbed with everyone’s passion and feelings and I felt like I was a part of something good and that this was something that I was glad to be a part of,” Neirouz said.

She said the inspiration she got from the rally was overwhelming and made her feel like she had accomplished something with the rest of the group.

“I got a call from a friend of my father’s from Lebanon the other day thanking me for going and representing him and others that could not be there because of distance. It made me feel good knowing that I was not only here representing myself, but I was representing others too.” Neirouz said.