A group of Mississippi Valley State University students protesting the war in Iraq sang spirituals, prayed and pumped their fists to chants of "No more war" Friday in front of the Student Union.
Greg Merriweather, a minister with Lighthouse Student Ministries, said he organized the rally because President Bush hasn't presented sufficient evidence for an invasion of Iraq. Merriweather, 23, a business administration major from Chicago, said he has cousins who are soldiers fighting in the war.
"We personally believe the war is over oil," he said. "It's not worth it, in our opinion, for a man to send troops who have nothing to do with the situation to die for a cause that's still unclear."
This sentiment is sweeping over the campus, said Corey Dixon, a freshman political science major.
"Everyone I've met at Valley is against the war," Dixon said.
Around midday, about 15 of those people gathered around Merriweather as he preached against the hostilities and the Bush administration's policies. He called for a quick, peaceful withdrawal of troops from Iraq and predicted that further violence would nudge terrorist cells into retaliation.
Veronica Scott, 22, of Ruleville said she has been following news of the conflict closely but that she hates to turn the T.V. on when she wakes up for fear of the death toll.
"To me, this is like the tip of the iceberg," said Scott, a biology major. "It's not even war. I hope it all comes to an end soon. I just want peace now before to many people get hurt."
Habray Carter, 20, of Drew questioned the president's fiscal policy.
"I wonder why we claim to be in a recession, but we have billions of dollars to spend to tell someone how to run their country."
Friday's demonstration was held as millions of other anti-war protesters gathered in major cities throughout the world.
Carter said he believes the protests show that young Americans are willing to take a stand and question how their country is run.
"We're trying to really let our government know that youth do have views on national issues," he said.
