Perhaps war will always be as ugly as Eby portrayed it. Eby wrote in his introduction to War that he had been accused of being a pacifist. He didn’t really think he was one, but said he believed that “. . . lawful, not to say sanctified, wholesale slaughter is simply slobbering imbecility.” Eby saw the folly of war and wondered, with some idealism, why everyone couldn’t just get along and solve their differences peacefully.
Some choose pacifism as a response to the inhumanity of war, and some seek to use citizen movements to hold governments accountable. Eby cried out to the women of the world as the citizens who, as mothers and potential brides of the men who die in war, have the “guts” to stop war and speak against it. Indeed many influential citizen peace movements have been founded by women, including the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), whose members met in The Hague in 1915 while their husbands clashed in opposing armies in the war. In the 1960s women were “striking” from their domestic duties in order to protest nuclear testing and war in a movement called Women Strike for Peace. Women’s peace movements have often made connections between the “private” realm of household life with the violence of war, suggesting that “security” is not gained by spending billions on high-tech weapons and war, but rather by investing in education, healthcare, and projects that provide “security” in daily life.
Today it is probably more true than ever that citizen movements and public support can make or break a war. Wilsonian idealism is based to some degree on faith in “world public opinion” and its moral force as a check to the rule of weapons of force. Wilson dreamed of a world where each nation served not only its own interests, but also the interests of humankind. The problem may be that citizens of the world’s nations are not so oriented; the true battle may be in the minds of the people as media, propaganda, education, and—yes—art, sway them to war and self-interest or to cooperation and world-interest.
Eby certainly did his part to enter into the fray. Ultimately, he concluded that war is not a permanent fixture of our world, stating that if “everyone who has any feeling in the matter at all said what he felt in no uncertain terms—and kept saying it—the sheer power of public opinion would go far to make war impossible.”
Majors with the largest numbers of students: Biology; Communication Studies; Management; Political Science; Psychology.
The Gustavus women's soccer team gave up two second half goals to Augsburg College to fall 2-1 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match in St. Peter, Minn Tuesday night. Senior Callie Christensen gave the Gusties an early lead when she scored on a corner kick in the 20th minute. Augsburg came back in the second half to score two goals in the first 14 minutes. Gustavus falls to 4-6-2 overall (2-3-1 in the MIAC), while Augsburg improves to 8-1-3 overall (4-0-3 in the MIAC).
Gustavus Adolphus College is pleased to announce that the Reverend Drell and Adeline Dekko Bernhardson have made an endowment gift of $2 million that will support the Nobel Conference.
Wednesday night's MIAC volleyball match between Gustavus Adolphus and Carleton College will be videostreamed from St. Peter beginning at 6:50 p.m. The Gusties, who are tied for 21st in the current Top 25 poll with Saint Benedict, are 15-3 overall and 3-2 in the MIAC. The Knights enter the contest at 7-7 overall and 4-1 in league play. Last year, Carleton defeated Gustavus 3-2 in Northfield.
The Gustavus men's golf team fired a final round team total of 304 and finished second to Saint John's at the MIAC Championships which were held at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minn. The Gusties, who finished with a 54-hole total of 314-299-304--917, were led individually by Ricky Copeland who placed third with a total of 75-71-75--221.
