The Seton Hall Pirates for Life club reported to Student Services that several of their flyers advertising their trip to Washington D.C. to participate in the March for Life were torn down around campus, according to an email sent to the student body on Nov. 29.
Tracy Gottlieb, vice president of Student Services, said in the email that students are “prohibited from tearing down the flyers of other groups.”
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Several posters were torn down in various buildings throughout campus.
Photo courtesy of Julie DeVoti[/caption]
The situation is currently under investigation and any student who is found vandalizing the posters will be subject to the student judicial process, according to Gottlieb’s email.
Julie DeVoti, one of the co-presidents of Seton Hall’s Pirates for Life club, commented on the situation in an email.
“It is disheartening to see people deface and take down our posters when we are trying to spread a message of support for life and in the case of the March for Life, support for mothers who become pregnant unexpectedly and their preborn babies,” she said.
DeVoti then said that the posters being torn down is detrimental to their cause.
“These March for Life posters being taken down makes it difficult to get the word out about signing up for the March for Life Trip,” DeVoti said. “With an approaching deadline of Dec. 17, it is crucial for people to see these posters with details on how to sign up for the bus trip to Washington D.C.”
Benjamin Jaros, another co-president of the club elaborated on DeVoti’s comments via email.
“By taking these posters down, these individuals demonstrate a lack of respect for the views of others,” he said. “I just wish these people could see how much work myself and others from the Pirates for Life have put in to making this march a reality. Perhaps, that would deter them from destructively targeting the views they do not agree with.”
Gregory Lobo, a member of the club, also shared his thoughts on the situation via email.
“While this is obviously an unacceptable act from a free speech standpoint, we stand to gain more publicity from this than we lost if we are smart about it,” he said.
Isabel Soisson can be reached at isabel.soisson@student.shu.edu.
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