Students rushing through the Quad on their way to class Wednesday witnessed a sight on campus normally common in Free Speech Alley.
Members of “Missionaries to the Preborn,” a Wisconsin-based group protesting planned parenthood as a cause of abortion, voiced their position to students in the Quad, an area where preachers, picketers and protesters rarely are allowed.
One of the missionaries spoke directly to students passing by and carried a large sign depicting graphic photos of aborted babies with the phrase “Planned Parenthood Holocaust.”
The scene caught many students off-guard and caused a massive traffic jam in one of the higher traffic areas of the Quad. Many students voiced concerns that the missionaries should move to Free Speech Alley.
“This kind of riffraff should be confined in one area,” said English sophomore Ashley Miller. “The Quad is for reading and studying, not for these attacks.”
Miller said people preaching in the Quad are potentially harmful to everyone on campus.
The LSU Police Department dispatched three officers to tell the missionaries to move to Free Speech Alley soon after the missionaries began speaking to students.
Capt. Mark Shaw said campus police received a complaint of the missionaries violating University policy by pushing pamphlets at students.
Shaw said the University recognizes free speech but reserves the right to restrict any group that comes to campus to voice an opinion.
Shaw said the administration often keeps groups out of the Quad because the area is surrounded by classrooms, and the groups could disrupt students’ learning experiences.
The University also can dictate a time and place for groups to exercise their rights, he said. Often the time and place given is reasonable and in high traffic areas on campus.
Shaw said permission normally is granted to groups that approach the University before visiting campus. However, Missionaries to the Preborn failed to ask permission.
After several minutes of conversation with police officers, the missionaries agreed to move, though they continued to protest.
“This is America. We don’t have free speech alleys or free speech zones; any public area is free speech,” said missionary George Wilson.
Wilson said the idea that a university assigns areas where free speech can and cannot take place is troubling.
He also feels students should be allowed to take part in free speech discussions anywhere on campus.
Shaw said the University administration advises groups to protest, picket or voice their opinions in or around Free Speech Alley.
“Free Speech Alley is a place where it’s known anybody can do their thing,” he said.
Shaw said the University ensures a group is able to come to campus and fulfill their purpose as long as they do not interfere with the normal business of a learning institution.