(Posted October 14, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Fifty members of the Juniata College faculty have signed a resolution that opposes a pre-emptive attack on Iraq on "both moral and practical grounds," according to the resolution drafted and distributed across campus Friday (Oct. 11) morning.

"The development of the resolution came out of several interlocking forces," says Andrew Murray, professor of religion and peace and conflict studies and director of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. "One is our commitment to the historic mission of Juniata College as a peacemaking institution in the Church of the Brethren tradition, a second is a general aversion to warfare and violence as a means of resolving conflict, and third, our commitment to presenting a model for our students demonstrating the attitudes and behaviors we hope to cultivate in them."

One faculty member was undecided about signing the resolution and 11 faculty members chose not to sign it. There are 83 full-time faculty members at the college.

The resolution reads in part, "an attack on Iraq will likely result in the death and injury of innocent civilians, and our attack would make us guilty of the very thing we seek to prevent-death and injury to civilians for political purposes."

The resolution also lists several practical reasons for avoiding war with Iraq, including destabilization of the Middle East and "imposing serious strains on America's currently weak economy in terms of the cost of the war, as well as on postwar economic obligations."

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.