Students once again protested the Pacifica Forum’s presence on campus Friday, putting more pressure on the controversial group to leave campus.
The topic of the day was scheduled to be “Neo-Communism and the Anti-Hate Task Force,” but the event turned into another round of debate between student protesters and Pacifica Forum members.
Student protests and complaints have thus far led the University administration to remove the group from the EMU for the rest of the academic year, but protesters say they don’t intend to stop anytime soon.
Student activists marched from the EMU to Agate Hall, where the Forum meetings have been temporarily relocated. Cimmeron Gillespie, a University student and one of the organizers behind the protest, said the plan was to stand and turn their backs whenever the Forum said something they found offensive.
In practice, the protest was still less than silent, although Gillespie said it was more restrained than the previous Friday’s.
“There was considerably less ruckus than the last event,” Gillespie said. “We wanted to just sit back in an area and represent strong dissent.”
Gillespie said that was a “reaction to people saying we were an out-of-control hate group.”
“We were just trying to take back the space, not in a force of arms, but in a very real and symbolic manner,” he said.
However, Billy Rojas, the Pacifica Forum speaker at Friday’s event, said the ruckus was still formidable.
“I tried to make the point to the crowd that there were two sides to the debate,” Rojas said. “That went on for a while, and then the interruptions commenced and didn’t stop.”
University student Maneesh Arora, who attended the protest, said it was “pretty disruptive.” He said there was “a lot of yelling,” and at one point, the protesters began singing in unison.
Rojas eventually cut his presentation short and shifted into a question and answer session.
“I really appreciated the way the Forum did that,” Arora said. “It was a good way to get our feelings out. It was pretty inspiring how many people came and expressed how the Forum made them feel uncomfortable.”
Arora said that while he appreciated the Forum’s right to free speech, its presence on campus conflicted with the University’s mission, which is supposed to promote a “welcoming place for diverse groups.”
“There’s a lot of groups that feel unsafe and unwelcome on our campus because of the Pacifica Forum,” he said.
The protests have divided many students on the issue of free speech. During the ASUO Senate meeting on Wednesday, several ASUO senators were uncomfortable with supporting a resolution calling for the Forum to be banned from campus.
ASUO Senator Demic Tipitino argued that “how much we value the right of free speech is put to its severest test when the speaker is someone we disagree with most.”
As for Rojas, though, he said he just wishes the protesters had better arguments.
“I don’t mind that at all,” Rojas said. “In fact, I thrive on it. However, the level of ignorance about what they actually know about Pacifica is enormous. Those who are informed, I value what they say.
Everyone could use criticism, but frankly, there were some really dumbass questions on Friday night. If they’re going to protest us, they should at least be informed.”
News reporter Alex Tomchak Scott contributed to this report.
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