The National Women's Rights Organizing Coalition sponsored a rally yesterday on the Diag in support of defending affirmative action in California.
The rally was part of a national effort to defend affirmative action, which the group says is in jeopardy in California. Protesters targeted a ballot measure pending in California, which seeks to end affirmative action at public institutions for admissions, hiring and contracts.
"These issues are coming up in California and very soon, it will be our fight. If they think they can stop affirmative action without resistance, they will do it," said Jessica Curtin, an LSA senior who is active with the group.
Students walked quickly through the Diag on their way to classes, as Alex Johnson, a member of NWROC, yelled through a fog horn, encouraging students to join the rally.
Student support was minimal, and most of the 20 people congregated at the center of the Diag were NWROC members.
Ralliers said the California proposition, if passed, might lead to similar proposals in other states, such as Michigan.
"We want to lead demonstrations and build a new mass-militant integrated civil rights movement to defeat such attacks on affirmative action," Curtin said.
Curtin predicted that in the next few years, this issue will escalate in importance to become the No. 1 issue confronting the University. "We believe that this is a fight in self-defense and we will fight by any means necessary," Curtin said.
The group backs up its claims by citing recent examples of racist attacks in Ann Arbor and at the University, such as the alleged harassment faced by John Matlock, director of the Office of Academic and Multicultural Initiatives, when he tried to enter a campus event earlier this year. Members of the group passed out flyers outlining these incidents to students.
Although the rally was endorsed by the Michigan Student Assembly, no other groups participated yesterday.
Curtin said she solicited the help of many student groups via e-mail, but none came.
Dave Johnson, a line worker at Chrysler and one of the group's founding members, blamed the low turnout on the leaders of other student organizations for failing to mobilize their members to support the rally. Various student leaders could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Some students said that despite the California measure, the University's diversity is not in jeopardy.
Poonam Bhargava, a Kinesiology junior, said, "If there was a specific attack on diversity, then I would be pretty willing to defend it. But I don't feel that it is in jeopardy. I look around and I see it."
Ben Price, an LSA senior, said, "Even if affirmative action was stopped, I feel that diversity would still be promoted."