Her T-shirt read, "We will not be silent."
Indeed, retired Col. Ann Wright has been anything but silent since her resignation from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2003.
In her last stop in Florida as part of her national tour against the war, Wright appeared at the Arredondo Room in the Reitz Union on Tuesday night for a speech and book signing.
Her book, "Dissent : Voices of Conscience : Government Insiders Speak out against the War in Iraq," co-authored with activist Susan Dixon, tells the stories of government officials who spoke out against policies or people in government.
Wright discussed civil liberties, her life in government and the importance of whistleblowers, people who speak out about wrongdoings within an agency.
Wright served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve for a total of 29 years.
She then spent 16 years working as a diplomat after retiring from her military duties.
One of her duties included helping reopen the embassy in Afghanistan in Dec. 2001.
On March 19, 2003, she resigned publicly in a letter to Colin Powell, the same day President Bush declared war on Iraq. The letter stated her opposition to the administration's policies as the reason for her resignation.
The letter went out during her last assignment in Mongolia, when she realized that she was troubled by the administration, she said.
Wright now spends most of her time protesting the Iraq war and other policies of the Bush administration.
She has been arrested several times for disturbing Congressional meetings.
Wright said in an interview that she wanted students to know that "we all have the responsibility as citizens to speak up when we see something wrong."
The crowd agreed with her sentiments with unanimous applause.
About 100 people attended the speech, 20 of which were members of Students Against War, said R. Delaney Rohan, vice president for the group.
"We would really love to have a lot more participation from students, but without the draft, there's no impetus," Wright said in an interview.
Wright went on to note that she had a bigger student turnout earlier in the day when she visited the University of Central Florida, she said.
Rohan, a political science senior, said he appreciated that Wright recognized whistleblowers.
"It's the untold stories that really matter," he said.
Wright shared many of these stories to let the audience know how many whistleblowers have been silenced.
"Let's end this war in Iraq," Wright concluded. "Let's end these criminal actions. Let's get our country back."
