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UCSB Students Strike in Protest of Iraq War

Nearly 1,000 students shut down Highway 217 in two-hour standoff with police

By Matt Cota / KSBY-6

UCSB students go on strike to protest the war in Iraq. Nearly a thousand refused to work, shop or go to class. And late this afternoon, the protesters shut down a major South Coast highway.

It started as a student strike -- the simple act of not going to class to protest the war in Iraq. But after an hour of speeches at an Isla Vista rally, the crowd grew restless.

The students -- nearly a thousand strong -- marched through campus and began walking on Highway 217, which is the main thoroughfare to the UCSB campus and to the Santa Barbara Airport. It was immediately shut down by the Highway Patrol. More than two dozen law enforcement officers, some dressed in riot gear, met the students on the highway.

Two arrests were made. Both were protesters who tried to make it through the police barrier to the other side.

After a two-hour standoff, the students turned around and headed back to campus.

"I think this is great," says protest organizer Will Parrish. "The students are feeling really inspired and empowered and we made a really important statement that a lot of people across the country are paying attention to. And we also did something instrumental, which is stop business as usual at our university."

The protest not only stopped business as usual at the university, but in Goleta as well. With Highway 217 closed, getting to the airport -- or any of the other businesses along Hollister Avenue -- became a little trickier.

It would have been an even bigger traffic headache had the protesters made it to their ultimate destination: Highway 101. Two who tried were arrested.

Similar student strikes took place today at more than 25 other colleges and universities across the country to protest the war in Iraq.