By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 1, 2003; Page B04

With blankets in tow, about 2,000 university students from the District and across the nation marched last night from Howard University to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, in preparation for further activism today as lawyers deliver arguments in two affirmative action cases from the University of Michigan.

"This case could set us way, way back, and it was really a reality check for me," said Esther Ohito, 21, an English major at Hampton University in Hampton, Va. She was preparing to spend the night outside the court, along with many others who carried snacks and extra jackets. "I've been in this comfort zone, not realizing that what my parents had to fight for wasn't too long ago, and the fight is not over."

By the time the marchers reached the court after midnight, their number included several onlookers who joined them after asking about the cause, said Nicole Merritt, a senior at Howard. Early today, the marchers nearly encircled the building.

The affirmative action supporters, including 1,000 high school students who held fundraisers to charter buses from Detroit, plan to rally outside the high court from 9 a.m. until noon. Then they are to set out for a 2 p.m. rally at the Lincoln Memorial, walking west along Constitution Avenue.

"This is the beginning of a new civil rights movement," said Shanta Driver, national director of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary.

At today's Supreme Court session, lawyers will argue the fairness and value to society of the University of Michigan's program of race-conscious admissions.

Last night, before the students linked arms and headed for Capitol Hill in groups of three, they attended a teach-in and rally punctuated by cheers and anger.

"I'm tired of hearing civil rights is a has-been," said Ceara Flake, a second-year law student at Georgetown University and an organizer of last night's events.

Some speakers who had fought for civil rights decades ago told students it is their turn to take up the cause.

"Tomorrow's case can take us back to Plessy v. Ferguson," a century-old ruling that approved racial segregation under the separate-but-equal doctrine, said Washington lawyer Donald Temple.

"There are people before you who didn't have anywhere near the comfort you do," Temple told the crowd. ". . . They were not afraid of the cold, the dogs, the police."

The loudest cheers, however, came when speakers mentioned the war in Iraq, especially when Temple said the United States is a country unafraid of sending young African Americans to war in Iraq, but that hesitates to send those young men to college.

"It's surreal -- all the parallels with the '60s," said Tina Osborne, 22, a Howard senior. "Right now, I think affirmative action has to be in place, and it just rattled me that this is happening now, with the war and everything. We can't let this go by."

Many of the students from Howard and other predominantly black universities said they had been largely shielded from the affirmative action debate. "I don't want to go back to where attending a black college would not be a choice," said Lisa Callender, 22, a senior at Hampton University.

Callender and Ohito said they were a bit nervous at this, their first march, because they knew the U.S. Capitol Police technically would not allow the students to camp overnight. Neither tents nor sleeping are permitted on the Supreme Court or Capitol grounds. So the two charged their cell phones during the rally so they could talk through the night.D.C. and Park Police said they don't plan to close any streets today for long periods. Instead, they expect to escort the marchers -- at least 10,000 were predicted -- and orchestrate "rolling closures" as necessary, rerouting traffic block by block as the crowds pass.

Staff writer Debbi Wilgoren contributed to this report.