Ask any history major and they will say university campuses around the world have become the staging grounds for political activists throughout history because of their ready supply of well-educated young people.

Yet despite low approval ratings for the war in Iraq, there have been few protests on campus, with one anti-war protest with less than 20 people marching.

Low support for the war in Iraq

Nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how President Bush has handled the war in Iraq, according to a recent poll conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post.

Other statistics look similarly abysmal for Operation Iraqi Freedom: 58 percent of those polled stated they did not find the Iraq war worth fighting, and 53 percent said U.S. forces should have stayed out of it to begin with.

The American casualties of Operation Iraqi Freedom stand at 2,380, with 2,234 of them occurring during “Post Combat Ops,” after Bush’s famous “Mission Accomplished” appearance aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, according to the Department of Defense.

Yet, despite the steady decline of support for the war, universities, which have historically been important rallying points for protests and demonstrations, seem uncommonly silent.

Few protests have occurred on NIU’s campus this semester besides the March 20 protest organized by the Northern Coalition for Peace and Justice.

The difference between today’s anti-war demonstrations and those of three decades ago raise an important question: If such a large number of people disapprove of American foreign policy, why aren’t students taking a more active role in saying so?

NIU’s protest history

On May 5, 1970, 500 NIU students marched across campus in protest of the Vietnam War.

They were raging over the deaths of four student protestors at Kent State University the previous day. The mob of students moved from Lowden Hall, through Altgeld and on to Williston, causing property damage and painting slogans as they went, according to the Northern Star’s archives.

Thirty-six students were arrested and buses of law enforcement officers with riot gear patrolled the streets of DeKalb where several businesses had been vandalized.

The following day, 8,000 people marched across the campus in protest of the ROTC program, with no instances of violence or property damage and no arrests.

Classes were suspended and thousands of people attended a University Council meeting to give their views on the ROTC and Police Science programs, which many students did not want as part of the NIU curriculum.

Kenneth Trantowski, who served as the Northern Star’s editor in chief during the spring semester, remembers NIU as a volatile place during that time.

“[The Iraq war] does not seem to have enraged the students today as much as [Vietnam] did 30 years ago, even though in many ways it is equally as awful an involvement,” Trantowski said.

He said the likelihood of another Kent State happening is very low due to the outlook of today’s college students.

“There’s a sense of apathy today that is highly unusual,” Trantowski said. “We’ve got an administration in power that deserves to have students angry, and yet they remain passive and indifferent.”

Why the apathy?

The current generation of university students are told they are more apathetic toward politics than usual, though reasons seem rarely cited during these accusations.

Visiting assistant professor of history Paul Street said the conflict in Iraq and the Vietnam War are incomparable because of many factors, which is one reason why students who oppose the war feel less motivation to protest.

One major difference is the lack of a draft, Street said.

“One thing that puts people in the streets in large numbers is when they feel that a specific policy will have a tangible material impact on their lives,” Street said. “For students at NIU and other campuses, the Iraq war is a problem for other people.”

Street said all Americans, not just students, have become more apathetic toward politics.

“[Americans] have been conditioned over most of their lives to see American politics as a superficial and cynical exercise over which they can exercise relatively little influence,” Street said.

Trantowski offered a more general explanation.

The tone of politics in America can discourage activism among students, Trantowski said.

“I think the influence of the religious right creates an environment where activism is frowned upon,” Trantowski said.

Many students do not have time for activism in this day and age because of the increasing number of pressures, Street said.

“Kids are now holding full-time jobs and going to school and also commuting here,” Street said. “There is much, much less time for critical thought.”

Senior political science major Dan Walters said student activism often depends on the issues in question.

“I think our generation is much more involved in social issues like abortion and gay rights,” Walters said. “That’s where our real focus is.”

What will make students more active?

Though it is hard to gauge if this generation of students is more or less apathetic than those that have come before, there are suggestions for combating apathy.

“The best way to combat the apathy is for people who are not apathetic to push their friends not to be apathetic,” said Matt Streb, assistant professor of political science.

Street said many students are not even aware that a large number of their fellow students feel the same way they do.

“A lot of students have very progressive opinions,” Street said. “They don’t even know other students in their class feel the same way they do.”

While Trantowski feels students have the capacity for activism, their role in it will likely change.

“It’s not to say students won’t get on the bandwagon, but they won’t be leading it the way they were before,” Trantowski said. “I believe students had an active role in antiwar protests before, and they are absent now.”