Although the Westboro Baptist Church’s expected arrival in Blacksburg today has been publicized for the past three weeks, student leaders of counter-demonstrations have struggled to establish a unified plan.
Senior Jeff Chuang, a member of the Student Government Association House and the University Council, is one of the leaders of the student movement against the WBC’s presence.
“When I first found out (the WBC planned to come to Blacksburg), I was pissed,” Chuang said.
Chuang said he became involved with the student counter-protest response because he is against the WBC’s message. When he found out that many students were planning on actively protesting, he decided to take a leadership role to try to help others comply with the law.
“We thought it would be good for people who want that outlet (protesting) to make a positive outcome that made a difference,” he said.
Coordinating student efforts has not been entirely smooth, Chuang said.
He and Brandon Carroll, SGA president, initially partnered in the initiative to lead student counter-protests. The original intent was to stage a peaceful protest on Main Street, across from the members of the WBC.
“There’s a lot of different people doing protests,” Carroll said, adding that he wanted to create an area for protest that would help students stay together.
A CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP
Even determining a clear leader for the student counter-protests has suffered setbacks, however.
Carroll said that although Chuang was the official leader of the protest, many people still believed that he was also in charge. He said that the failure to clearly define a leader of the student group contributed to the confusion over the venue of the counter-protest.
“I’m not just doing this blindly,” Carroll said. “I’ve tried not to take the lead. I probably should’ve known that leading the first meeting would make people think I was in charge. It’s just very difficult to have structure amongst chaos.”
Carroll and Chuang held a meeting on Saturday, March 27. About 30 students attended, and it was decided to hold a counter-protest near the WBC.
Ed Spencer, vice president of student affairs, issued an e-mail statement to Carroll on March 31, requesting that the group move its protest to the plaza area outside of the Graduate Life Center.
Spencer’s e-mail stated he wished for the students to move the protest, because he hoped to divert media attention away from WBC members and toward Tech students. His e-mail also noted that it would potentially help contain unexpected reactions if they were on campus.
Spencer characterized his e-mail as “a very strong suggestion” that came from working for more than 40 years with the university.
“My major role was suggesting to them that the better approach as to move away from downtown and to an area where we’re used to having demonstrations,” he said.
“Dr. Spencer assumed we were going to have it at the GLC,” Chuang said. “The letter from Dr. Spencer to Brandon Carroll was forwarded to our group listserv. We had started discussion, but there was no clear consensus.”
“From my understanding, it was a request, but Brandon just said we’re moving it,” he said.
Carroll said he was not the one who agreed to move the protest.
“It was very hectic,” he said. “It’s very difficult to have structure against chaos. There’s no way to win.”
After learning that the official student response would be held in the GLC Plaza instead of on Main Street, Chuang said he had less than a week to try to make plans for that event.
Chuang said he had not personally communicated with Spencer, but he criticized him for attempting to interfere with the protest.
Chuang also expressed his frustration with the student body for not banding together to create one unified plan for responding to the WBC members.
“People want something done but nobody wants to do it,” he said. “We’re left to take the brunt of the work and the criticism.”
Carroll said it has been very hard for him to make anything happen in this situation.
“It’s been a very stressful week,” he said. “I get pulled one way by the upper administration, saying, ‘Don’t go near them (the WBC).’ Things don’t just happen. They take a lot of work. It’s so hard to make people realize what it takes.”
AN UNCERTAIN SITUATION
Melissa Yates, SGA senator, has been involved with the planning efforts, specifically working with students to try to determine the content that should be on their signs.
“It’s just that we’re trying to control chaos, which you can’t do,” Yates said. “There aren’t enough people who are dedicated enough to full-on participate. I think that, based on time constraints, we bit off too much of the apple. We didn’t have time to plan.”
Because Chuang has no idea how many protesters to expect and whether those protesters will be Tech students, Tech alumni, citizens of Blacksburg, or others, he is concerned that his student organizers will not be able to handle the crowd.
“We hope for about 200,” he said. “Any more and we might actually have problems.”
“We have no idea (how many people will attend) and that’s kind of the scary thing,” Chuang said.
The group has struggled to brainstorm potential ways to try to attract students to the GLC Plaza and away from downtown. In an e-mail sent out to group members Wednesday night, an official time for the GLC event was set for noon until 1:30 p.m. The e-mail touted free pizza, music and speakers.
However, no members of the group were able to obtain permits for food or music. So, the “unofficial gathering” will not feature either.
“We are just coming together,” Carroll said. He said neither the SGA nor the university has officially condoned or is officially supporting the gathering.
Another feature designed to entice students to stay at the GLC is the fundraising efforts that will be taking place. Students can donate cash or credit at the rally.
Individuals can donate online to groups such as Tech’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance, Jewish communities, the Harrington Hope Foundation and the 4/16 Memorial Fund at HokieSpirit.com.
MOVING ONTO MAIN STREET
Despite efforts to ensure that students stay at the GLC, Chuang predicted that many students would probably end up protesting on Main Street and that many students from his event would probably “unofficially” congregate downtown.
Carroll said he never intended for the GLC Plaza to be the only area for a protest.
“That’s not the only place we are going to go,” he said. “We were able to reserve space and it adds a speaking platform. We’re just not having a structured central spot downtown.”
One group that will attempt to maintain order at the protest site on Main Street will be Womenspace. Its faculty adviser, vice mayor of Blacksburg and math instructor Susan Anderson, said her students asked her support their efforts to plan a positive response.
“They have volunteered to be downtown to protest and be a source of positive energy,” Anderson said.
She said the students from Womenspace would specifically have signs directing protesters toward the GLC. She also said she was not aware that the main protest would be held at the GLC until this week.
Anderson said she did not feel the students were completely ready for the counter-protest event.
“They’ve got a lot of organizing to do in the next 24 hours,” she said.
THE LEGAL RESPONSE
In the event that anything unforeseen happens, police from both the Blacksburg and Tech police departments will be present.
Lt. Joe Davis of the Blacksburg Police could not comment on specifics of plans, but he said that officers would be on hand “to make sure that people are safe.”
“We just want to make sure things don’t get out of hand and people don’t get out of hand,” he said.
It is possible for police to ask protesters to disperse if town codes are violated. Town code says you can’t physically interfere with pickets or use “profane, indecent, abusive or threatening language to, or at those pickets which would tend to provoke the pickets or others to a breach of the peace.” Additionally, the sidewalks and streets must be free for pedestrian and car passage.
Protesters may also face issues with the town code in terms of assembly. The town requires certain permits for groups of 10 or more as well as groups of 200 or more.
As far as the Blacksburg police could report, no student groups have applied for such permits. However, “First amendment speech is protected, so unless there’s violence” the police department does not plan on interfering with any counter-protest, Davis said.
Blacksburg mayor Ron Rordam said he would be present at the GLC event.
“I’m pleased the students will have their counter-protest on campus,” he said. “I think it’s important to stay away. I’m encouraging everyone to join.”
Rordam said he wanted the Tech community to demonstrate a spirit of acceptance and peace.
“The best way it to not react but demonstrate who we are,” he said.
Carroll encouraged students to focus on the positive aspects of the counter-protest effort, despite his struggles through planning it.
“This has been the worst experience for me,” he said. “It’s been frustrating, but I still think it’ll be successful.”
Carroll said he hoped students would make the counter-protest positive, no matter how or where they chose to protest.
The unofficial gathering will begin at the GLC plaza at 11:30 a.m. and is not officially sponsored by any university groups or officials.
The Westboro Baptist Church will start its April 9 protest at 12:15 p.m. outside the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center on the corner of Church Street and East Roanoke Street. At 12:45 p.m. they will proceed to the corner of North Main Street and East Roanoke Street. At 1:30 p.m. the church will round off its schedule at Blacksburg High School.