I do not know how I feel about the name of Catt Hall.

I do know that, given the actions of the September 29th Movement over the past few weeks in regard to the legal consequences of their supposed civil disobedience, I have lost all respect for the movement.

Members of the movement seemed to enter into the town hall and the civil disobedience inherent in that action with great glee, and many on this campus watched the actions with great interest.

It was when the members of the September 29th Movement began to attempt to evade the consequences of their actions that I began to question how thoroughly the accused understood the principles of civil disobedience.

One needs only look to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham City Jail to see that the concept of civil disobedience is being badly distorted on this campus.

King said that “one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, AND WITH A WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT THE PENALTY.”

King sat in jail because he believed, as I do, that civil disobedience is the best way to end unjust laws.

King went on in that same letter to say, “I submit that an individual who breaks an unjust law, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

I guess that it all comes down to respect, respect for the law, and respect for the practitioners of civil disobedience.

The two are inextricably linked, and before the September 29th Movement can regain my respect and the respect of many others, they must accept that punishment is almost always involved where there is civil disobedience.

Daniel M. Beaver-Seitz

Freshman

Biology