NEW ORLEANS — John Menszer hasn’t protested for a cause in more than 40 years.But Thursday, the recent firing of a University professor persuaded the New Orleans resident to do something he said he hasn’t done since the height of the Vietnam War in 1967.”I didn’t know the professor,” Menszer said. “[But] I benefited from his work personally.”The calmness on a street half a block from Tulane Avenue was interrupted Thursday morning when a group of about 50 protestors chanted “LSU, shame on you” as they marched in front of the LSU Health Science Center steps to protest the University’s firing of Ivor van Heerden.  The rally headed by New Orleans-based organization, Levees.org, marched near a dressed-up mannequin with black masking tape across its mouth — meant to represent van Heerden.In response to last week’s firing of van Heerden, costal scientist and University research professor, last week, the organization wanted to demonstrate how it felt about the University’s decision. “This is a sad say for the citizens of south Louisiana because they have lost their only independent, expert voice on hurricane and flooding issues,” said Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal. University spokeswoman Kristine Calongne said in an e-mail Chancellor Michael Martin would not comment on the rally Thursday.The group of van Heerden’s supporters were all New Orleans residents who relied on him to keep the city informed and safe, Rosenthal said. Van Heerden led a team of engineers and scientists to inspect the levees damage after Hurricane Katrina and was not afraid to report his findings, she said. Van Heerden’s findings showed the levees failed because of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built them poorly. The protest was about more than the van Heerden’s firing, Rosenthal said.”Ivor van Heerden can get work anywhere,” she said. “But it’s about us.” Louisiana residents and people across the nation will be affected by their decision, she said. And those who couldn’t make the protest can  sign the petition to Martin on Levees.org, Rosenthal said. By Thursday evening, 1,414 signatures were on the petition. The organization is also asking to meet with Gov. Bobby Jindal. “[Jindal] didn’t even return our calls, which is unusual because he was one of Levees.org’s earliest supporters,” Rosenthal said.Another New Orleans resident, Albert Camalizo, said he was protesting because he lost his home in Lakeview during Hurricane Katrina and felt like van Heerden’s findings shed light on the truth about why the city flooded. Since the protest was held in New Orleans, Levees.org is trying to coordinate a rally on the LSU’s main campus, Rosenthal said. Vince Pasquantonio, Levees.org legislative liaison and political science graduate student, said he wants to organize a rally in the next two weeks in Baton Rouge but is worried finals will hinder students from participating. But Pasquantonio said students do care about the issue. “We care about our name being out there,” Pasquantonio said. “And we don’t want to be seen as a University that silences it’s own [researchers].” Van Heerden was asked to research what went wrong in New Orleans and after he spoke honestly about his discoveries, the University didn’t like his findings, Pasquantonio said. “Are faculty members going to chose not to say certain things?” he asked. “And is that going to make us a less productive research institution?”—-Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]