2008 Woodie Awards
Students studying in Rome experience anti-American sentiments
Cassi Matos
Issue date: 4/8/04 Section: News
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Students studying abroad in Rome during Spring Break were able to experience the international affects of the war in Iraq first-hand.
The 32 students accompanied by Timmian Massie, chief public affairs officer, were in Rome for the duration of their Spring Break. Their week consisted of an audience with the Pope, private tours of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Cathedral, and visits to the Pantheon, Coliseum and Roman Forum.
Massie said that an experience such as this one is not just important from an educational angle, it was also important culturally.
"As Americans we see only as Americans," Massie said. "There is also a world view which does not always agree."
However, it was not until the day before students left for Italy, that some of them experienced what it was really like to be an American in a foreign country.
To mark the first anniversary of the U.S.-led conflict, on Saturday, March 20, protesters took to the streets in nations across the globe.
In Italy, anti-war advocates gathered in Rome and Florence, showing their dismay for the war and expressing anti-Bush sentiments. The demonstration in Rome, considered a peace rally, took place on the streets outside the hotel where the students were staying.
Massie did not believe the students had any cause to be worried, even though the sentiments expressed by the rally were anti-war and anti-Bush.
"As Americans we have not seen any sort of demonstration like this since the 60s and 70s, during the Vietnam War, so we are not used to it," Massie said. "These were peaceful demonstrations. Just an expression of public sentiment and there was not a single shoving match."
Participants waved rainbow-colored peace flags and many wore them as makeshift scarves, skirts, bandanas and capes.
Jennifer Priore, frosh, described the day of the rally as a peaceful one.
"When I woke up in the morning we took the bus and they were passing out fliers," said Priore. "The flier was anti-war, but not anti-American. I never felt unsafe."
The 32 students accompanied by Timmian Massie, chief public affairs officer, were in Rome for the duration of their Spring Break. Their week consisted of an audience with the Pope, private tours of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Cathedral, and visits to the Pantheon, Coliseum and Roman Forum.
Massie said that an experience such as this one is not just important from an educational angle, it was also important culturally.
"As Americans we see only as Americans," Massie said. "There is also a world view which does not always agree."
However, it was not until the day before students left for Italy, that some of them experienced what it was really like to be an American in a foreign country.
To mark the first anniversary of the U.S.-led conflict, on Saturday, March 20, protesters took to the streets in nations across the globe.
In Italy, anti-war advocates gathered in Rome and Florence, showing their dismay for the war and expressing anti-Bush sentiments. The demonstration in Rome, considered a peace rally, took place on the streets outside the hotel where the students were staying.
Massie did not believe the students had any cause to be worried, even though the sentiments expressed by the rally were anti-war and anti-Bush.
"As Americans we have not seen any sort of demonstration like this since the 60s and 70s, during the Vietnam War, so we are not used to it," Massie said. "These were peaceful demonstrations. Just an expression of public sentiment and there was not a single shoving match."
Participants waved rainbow-colored peace flags and many wore them as makeshift scarves, skirts, bandanas and capes.
Jennifer Priore, frosh, described the day of the rally as a peaceful one.
"When I woke up in the morning we took the bus and they were passing out fliers," said Priore. "The flier was anti-war, but not anti-American. I never felt unsafe."