In the midst of final exams, more than 50 Princeton students trekked to Washington with a simple goal: to talk. About anything.
The mission ? a mock filibuster at which Princeton students, staff and community members spoke continuously ? started April 24 outside the Frist Campus Center at Princeton. The center is named for the family of Senate Majority Leader and Princeton alumnus Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who has proposed the so-called "nuclear option," a Senate rule change that would effectively eliminate the filibuster as a means for blocking votes on judicial nominees.
What was originally a small gathering of Princeton students gained momentum, and students began speaking through the night against Frist and in support of the filibuster. Speeches ranged from Shakespearian monologues to readings of the U.S. Constitution.
The culmination of over 380 continuous hours of protest was the trip to Washington on May 11, which organizers called the "fili-bus-tour." Princeton students took buses to Washington and set up camp outside the Capitol.
"We wanted to think of some way to end it that would have a big impact," Princeton junior Cathy Kunkel, one of the trip organizers, said about the filibuster. "It really empowers people."
Protesters spent more than 24 continuous hours on the National Mall. One student, trying to study for final exams, read from her textbook as part of the filibuster.
The Princeton contingent was joined by students from D.C.-area universities, local supporters and several members of Congress.
Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) addressed the small crowd of protesters, reporters and passers-by assembled in front of the Capitol.
"Right now, as these students realize, the Constitution hangs in the balance," Schumer said. "What America is all about ? checks and balances ? could be greatly harmed if the nuclear option is invoked."
Robert Goodspeed, who helped Princeton organizers get to Washington, commented on the student protesters.
"I'm not surprised at all that it's students who are standing up first to voice their dissent," Goodspeed said.
"In the last few years, there has been an increased attention in the progressive community paid to student activists," he added.
Goodspeed works for People for the American Way, a left-wing think tank based in Washington.
Discussions of the proposed filibuster ban began yesterday after Senate Democrats used the procedure to block votes on two of President George Bush's federal judicial nominees.
Regardless of the outcome of this week's debate in the Senate, Princeton students say the protest has revitalized student activism.
"This was such a golden opportunity to do something as ironic as a filibuster," said Princeton sophomore Asheesh Siddique, who led the protest from its beginning.
"Progressive students are really trying to stand up at this point and show that they have a voice and express it in different ways."
