Monday will be a different kind of day at Penn. At 11:30 a.m., members of the Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay activist church from Topeka, Kansas led by minister Fred Phelps, will be protesting in front of Penn Hillel.
Phelps has made his name protesting gay rights and military funerals, with the tortured rationale that America’s support for gay rights led to the 9/11 attacks and therefore the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are, unsurprisingly, also anti-Semitic.
We’re not fans, either.
Nonetheless, we support their right to their opinions. The First Amendment is the foundation of newspapers, and we can’t deny that the WBC can hold its views. Similarly, we reserve the right to vehemently disagree with theirs. And this is the time for all students to stand up and exercise their First Amendment rights.
Hillel has created a banner, to hang on its building, as a silent act of response that both makes a statement and refuses to give members of the WBC members the attention they crave. Several other student groups have signed on, as well. Other students have talked about organizing a formal, silent protest to mark their opposition to the group’s beliefs.
While we support Hillel’s decision, we hope that all students who abhor what the WBC stands for find ways to make their opinions evident. Protesting, however, should not become violent. Penn prides itself on being a diverse campus, and this should not be lost when confronted with such an opponent.
Moments like these arise every few years on college campuses, wherein students get a chance to speak up and show where they stand on such fundamental issues as human rights. Don’t let this one pass you by.
Comments
Hmm..
Isn't Penn's campus private property? Or perhaps, does the administration not want to go through the trouble of kicking these fools off the grounds? I've heard that they protest "professionally"-- that they're all lawyers looking for an excuse to sue anyone or anything.
DO NOT SHOW UP AT THE PROTEST
I urge all students to not go to the protest scheduled on Monday. The Westboro Baptist Church obtains revenue through three main ways:
1. AD REVENUE from people clicking on their website
2. SUING people who show up at rallies
3. OBTAINING donations through free publicity given to them by the news media.
By showing up, you're actually supporting them economically. By clicking on their website, you're supporting them economically.
I instead all students, faculty and staff to donate to a cause on their behalf. In the past 3 days, this Facebook group has raised over 23,000 bucks towards the Matthew Shepard Foundation in WBC's honor. I'd love to see more members of the Penn community join.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=214656452473
Melody Joy Kramer
Penn '06
Although the Quakers were
Although the Quakers were outshot 9-2 in the first half, they turned it around and took wedding hair nine shots to the Eagles’ three in the second. That difference was largely attributed to the play of freshmen Travis Cantrell and Michael Kozak.
“They are inexperienced so it takes them a lot longer to settle in,” Levin said.
Both rookies were key factors in the Quakers’ only score. In the 56th minute, Cantrell picked up a loose ball and played it to Kozak, who slipped it through American’s back line wedding cake toppers. That set up junior Loukas Tasigianis for a one-on-one with the keeper, and he was able to convert.
Following Tasigianis’ mark, the Quakers seemed poised to pull away. They rattled off eight straight shots bridal shower gifts — five of which came off the foot of Cantrell (he finished with six total).