Provided to The Clarion

Madison College’s WolfPack Beyond War (WBW) is the chapter of the global anti-war organization, World Beyond War, here on campus.
WBW is having an event, Solidarity for Peace, on April 21 in Room D1630 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The event will feature Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan as a keynote speaker. Pocan has been a part of the House of Representatives for Wisconsin since 2013 and is an advocate for the reduction of military spending. This event will include perspectives from student organizations, community members and faculty about how militarism has affected individuals and communities as a whole.
The Clarion’s Brent West met with Elias Lyman, the president of WolfPack Beyond War, to get more information about the president himself, the organization’s goals and the event WBW will be hosting this month on campus.
WolfPack Beyond War’s mission is to abolish war entirely. When lots of resources and funding are poured into the United States’ military and law enforcement, “our bag of tricks is full of hammers and every single problem starts to look like a nail,” Lyman said. “We want to recognize that there are other solutions, [many of which] we have engaged with throughout our history.”
As someone who was raised in Quaker tradition, Lyman has been a pacifist from a young age. His passion for political activism began in childhood, as he recalls attending local protests for various causes in Madison since 2012.
When asked about the importance of anti-militarism, Lyman said, “People have grown complacent to how militarism affects the rest of the world; Countries that are successful in a militaristic output can garner resources from other countries and hold them essentially under a boot heel and start coups, reducing the ability for [the voice of the imperialized] to be represented in their own politics. This is a [global] problem.”
Specifically affecting many students at Madison College, Lyman said that “the amount of money we put towards our military directly affects our infrastructure and our ability to access healthcare and education. I see the anti-war movement to be closely tied to the income-inequality movement.”
However, Lyman believes this is by design. “By keeping people in socioeconomic struggles, it limits the amount of protesting that people are able or willing to engage in. It’s challenging for people to find time in the day to be activists and to understand these issues when they’re struggling just to get by,” he said.
“So many of these things are interconnected. That’s why I want to help educate people on campus and in our community. In reality, I think that we share a lot of the same beliefs, but we end up clashing against each other instead of being able to unify and make changes,” Lyman said.
Students can join WolfPack Beyond War by going on WolfPack Connect and searching for the organization’s name. From there, students can join their Discord to learn about future WBW events, engage in meaningful discussions and learn about ways to contribute to the global movement.