Students Refuse to Interview with Merchants of Death

By Jack Gilroy, World BEYOND War, September 10, 2026

On September 9th, members of Veterans For Peace and Pax Christi offered students going into a Binghamton University Job Fair a Conscientious Objection Pledge to not interview with war machine corporations.

Conscientious Objection to War Work Pledge

“I renounce and reject all allegiance to any firm that produces, sells, or gives weapons or weapons systems or hardware or software to any entity. I shall never interview for or accept any offer to work for any such firm.”

Students asked what companies are part of the war machine. We noted that Lockheed Martin and BAE were the standout genocide profiting companies — and the insanely spooky  Naval Nuclear Laboratory. We asked students to begin all of their interviews with the question: Are you part of the war machine?

Sam Allen of Oneonta, NY, a  Pax Christi  New York State member,  asked students to avoid companies designing and making weapons and weapons systems. Students were urged to explore companies that want to enhance life, not destroy life.

Fred Kennedy of Waverly, NY, a Pax Christi activist, noted how the students were receptive to our offer of the pledge to not interview with war machine companies and said that the most interested were  students of color.

Vera Scroggins took photos and focused on suggesting students interview with companies that wanted to sustain the Earth and its people, not destroy them.

Hundreds of pledges were handed out, and students almost unanimously approved of the pledge. What they did inside of the interview room is unknown. Yet, the tone of the students we spoke with was in agreement with our pitch to avoid the Merchants of Death.

Our experience encourages us to ask that students and peace and justice organizations around the United States and the world use the Conscientious Objections to War Work Pledge not to interview with the war makers. Job fairs can be found by searching for specific universities. Simply search “Job Fair” at Stanford or Ohio University or Notre Dame  or MIT, University of Oxford, and Cambridge University of Sydney and New South Wales etc.

Student organizations and regional peace and justice groups need to meet in solidarity to  nonviolently oppose the pursuit of the best and brightest to join the killing machine.

The billionaires of the war machine love repeat business. Creating fear of perceived enemies is profitable while the cry of the poor is ignored — food stamps, cut from $250 a month to $25 a month, housing shortages and young people saying they have lost hope of ever owning their own home, student loan burdens, and environment and infrastructure needs swept aside.

However, the students in line at Binghamton University that day were not buying the fear and doom tactics. Change is in the air, and we need to focus on stopping the money flow to the Epstein gangsters and focus on the real needs and jobs to make us a more humane and loving society.

More actions at job fairs need to happen. Veterans For Peace Chapter 90 and Pax Christi NYS are planning on joining with peace organizations in Ithaca, NY, for a presence at Cornell University at Barton Hall September 15th to 17th. We hope to have a team offering resistance to merchants of death trolling for the best and brightest to design, make, and use products that kill and destroy. We will urge Cornell students to choose companies that want to enhance life, not harm life.

Photos by Vera Scroggins Independent Media