Jirmanus helps represent HIPJ at meetings of the Campus Anti-War Coalition, a Boston-area student group that helped organize the rally.
Coalition member Joshua Feldman, a junior at Emerson College, spoke about student response to what he called a “cycle of violence.” Although the coalition has taken no official stance on how students should react to the possibility of a draft, Feldman said he would refuse to fight.
“Personally, I don’t believe war will ever be justified,” he said.
The coalition only includes Boston-area colleges—a contingent of about 20 students from Brown University attended.
Bess McKinney, a senior at Brown, said violence against Afghans was “creating hundreds more terrorists” as a backlash.
“If we went in covertly, it wouldn’t require the deaths of innocent civilians,” she said.