Around 75 students and faculty walked out of their classrooms just before noon.
They came out to participate in an event organized by the Students for Peace and Democracy and the Student Environmental Center. It was a day of action against the war in Iraq.

"We have a rising military budget that does not acknowledge we have basic needs domestically that need to be met" says organizer and SIU junior Kandace Vallejo.

Protesters began the rally with speeches, before taking their demonstration on the road, and marching in front of the Army Recruitment office in downtown Carbondale.