Chapman Seniors Stand Proudly Behind Their Flags

Troy Pickard and Michael Kelly McCoy are seniors in the left-leaning peace studies program of right-leaning Chapman University in Orange.

That’s not the only contradiction.

Though both young men are passionate about the war with Iraq and both hope to defend the U.S. Constitution when they graduate in May, that’s where the similarities end.

Pickard, a 20-year-old peace activist, plans to organize antiwar rallies. McCoy, 22, is an Army ROTC cadet who will be commissioned in June. He hopes to lead troops in battle.

“There’s an interesting contrast between those two,” said Chapman professor Donald Will, head of the peace studies program. “I think that people like Michael and Troy have a depth of commitment that will keep them active and engaged” -- regardless of political differences.

On no subject are those differences more apparent than the war against Iraq. They hold idealistic, optimistic visions that are 180 degrees apart.

“I feel it is a just war, to be able to go in and have a regime change, to allow the Iraqi people to choose their own government,” McCoy said. “Oil is not the reason we are there. The oil will eventually be used for the benefit of the Iraqi people.”

Pickard thinks the war is a mistake -- that the United States should have used peaceful means to overthrow Saddam Hussein. “I would disagree ... that a world without war is impossible to achieve,” he said. “I’m not religious, but I admire the example of Jesus Christ: We have to do our best to be altruistic and entirely nonviolent.”

The two are among about a dozen majors in Chapman’s peace studies, a field of study pursued at more than 250 American universities. Will acknowledges that the program is philosophically opposed to war.

“We don’t just do history and then throw up our hands,” he said. “We focus on solutions. They [students] should try to solve problems nonviolently whenever possible.”

Among speakers the program has invited are Palestinian Edward Said, a leftist, and former U.N. arms inspector Scott Ritter, who opposes the war in Iraq.

This philosophy makes the program stand out on a conservative campus. Founded by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a Protestant denomination, the university’s political stance is signaled by its annual Global Citizen Medals to world leaders. Recipients since the prize began in 2000 have been Margaret Thatcher, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.

This climate has been a challenge for Pickard, who has become a target for those on campus who object to his editorials in the Panther, Chapman’s weekly newspaper, for which he is the opinions editor. His mailbox is often crammed with angry attacks.

“In class you hear things, people talking, upset at [antiwar] protesters,” said Jessica Fender, 20, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. “I know there has been a lot of opposition to Troy.”

Pickard, a native of Oregon, grew up in an apolitical suburban household. Political activism entered his life because of a stranger’s broken arm.

It was during his senior year in high school in 1999, when he went to a rally in downtown Portland out of curiosity. Hundreds had gathered in support of jailed journalist and convicted murderer Mumia Abu Jamal. Pickard was returning to his car when he witnessed an incident that has since become local lore: the arrest of Craig Rosebraugh by police officers who broke the veteran activist’s arm while cuffing him.

“I grew up thinking that police officers were there to help you and that they were good people,” Pickard said. But the incident “definitely burst my bubble.”

Since then, Pickard has dedicated himself to several causes: labor rights, environmental activism -- and now the war in Iraq. In December 2002, he formed the Orange County Student Coalition to organize the growing war opposition. Five students attended the initial meeting. Membership has since grown to 130 from several local colleges and high schools.

“People like to say, ‘I’m fighting this war to keep Americans free.’ I think that’s ridiculous,” he said.

Pickard chose Chapman because of its generous financial aid and was undaunted by its conservative reputation. “I think the reason that Chapman is considered a conservative school has more to do with the politics of our administration and our trustees,” he said.

Pickard’s photo negative is McCoy, known on campus by his middle name, Kelly. On an island of liberalism at Chapman -- the peace studies program -- “Kelly is a little unusual,” Will said. After he is commissioned, McCoy says he would consider it an honor to lead troops into combat.

“I think it’s contradictory in a lot of people’s eyes that I’m going into the war corps instead of the Peace Corps,” he acknowledged. But he doesn’t see it that way. He wants peace, too -- he’s just willing to use a gun to get it.

“War is part of society,” he said. “It’s something that may not necessarily be inevitable, but when it comes, I’d much rather be on the field of battle than on Wilshire trying to stop traffic.”

He sees the war in Iraq as the first step in a campaign by the United States to bring democracy -- by force, if necessary -- to many nations. One critic of the war asked him after a lecture on campus recently: Why wage war against Iraq when so many other nations are not free? “Hey,” he said. “One country at a time.”

McCoy’s father was in the armed services, and so were his grandfathers. He was born at Ft. Ord, on the Monterey Peninsula, where his father was a helicopter pilot.

After the elder McCoy’s Army service, he moved the family to San Jose. McCoy went to Cal State Fullerton on an ROTC scholarship -- and still goes three times a week for classes -- then transferred to Chapman to play lacrosse.

His sister, the lone Democrat in the family, hoped the move and new major meant a new attitude for her younger brother. No, his mission was still the same: “To bring peace and justice to the world,” he said.

These kinds of sentiments -- shared by McCoy and Pickard despite their political differences -- are typical of students drawn to the peace studies program, Will said. “I think at that age, people tend to be pretty idealist and optimistic,” Will said. “Hopefully, they will succeed and not be disillusioned.”