On Oct. 19 at Asbury Circle, Emory University's Student Programming Council (SPC) held a ‘70s themed event that featured a vintage car show, merchandise and root beer floats. Students were busy partaking in the festivities of Homecoming week when an unnamed man approached, holding a graphic sign of a mutilated, first-trimester fetus. The sign read “This is your neighbor. Abolishhumanabortion.com.”
Rachel Warhaftig (25C) reported that the man, an adult who was not an Emory student, was protesting abortion while shouting various Christian commandments. He spoke of “respecting Jesus” and said that “everyone’s going to Hell unless they follow God’s commandments.”
SPC President Ria Puri (23B) said that the protest was saddening to see and unplanned for — she said that while the protester seemed to assume that it would be permissible to express his opinions, it was prohibited due to Emory’s status as a private university.
Emory’s Open Expression Policy refers to the University community, which is broadly defined as students, people employed by the University or Emory Healthcare, University trustees and board members, alumni, invited guests of the University and “patrons, guests and those receiving the services of Emory Healthcare of other businesses, such as Continuing Education, of Emory University.”
“It was a little disparaging to see, but at the same time, I’m not familiar with this person, nor was anyone on SPC,” Puri said. “We were just a little surprised if they knew about our events and why they chose it, or if it was just coincidence.”
Warhaftig added that some Emory students might agree with the topic the protester was expressing, just not to such radical levels.
“I really don’t think this is his target audience,” Warhaftig said. “[Emory] is very politically left, and I would imagine the vast majority of students do not agree with the level of extreme views that he was expressing.”
Maddie Lampert (25C) added that the protest certainly became the center of attention of the event — she only noticed the vintage cars after she walked away to do homework.
An ‘unfortunate’ and ‘full circle’ occurrence
SPC’s Homecoming theme this year was “Swoopin’ Through the Decades,” reflected by Monday’s Roaring 20’s-themed event and Tuesday’s 60’s-themed Pride event.
“We can throw a 1920’s event, but we also acknowledge that the 1920’s wasn’t just glitz and glamor for everybody,” Puri said. “There was a lot more underlying injustice prevailing.”
Puri explained that SPC spent time thinking about how to acknowledge issues that happened during those time periods while still celebrating Homecoming, including a greater push for equity and inclusion.
Although Puri said it was “incredibly triggering” for students to experience the protester in a place where they might consider a safe space, she noted that it raised a big conversation about where the student body stands, both politically and socially.
“We’re supposed to be in the most modern era of society, what has really changed?” Puri said. “The fact that we had a protester there, it was very 1970s.”
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, dismantling an almost 50-year precedent protecting the right to abortion, reproductive rights are a hotly debated topic in American politics. The federal court overturned Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s “heartbeat bill” in 2019 under the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. However, Kemp expressed in a June 24 tweet following Roe v. Wade’s downfall that he would strive to pass the heartbeat bill and “ultimately protect countless unborn lives here in the Peach State.”
The heartbeat bill went into effect on July 21, banning abortions once a doctor can detect “embryonic or fetal cardiac activity” in the womb, which occurs six weeks into pregnancy.
With the general election in full swing, abortion continues to remain a key issue that will dictate the future of reproductive rights in Georgia.
“SPC strives to create a very inclusive environment, and that stands to how we want people to feel at our events,” Puri said. “It was really sad to see somebody feel the need to speak that language to students and put them in that situation.”
Student protest, administration intervention
Puri said that the situation was handled after calling the Emory Police Department (EPD) and Emory Campus Life administration. Before that, students took it upon themselves to express their distaste of the anti-abortion protestor.
Some students saw the anti-abortion protestor as a humorous occurrence, similar to the TikTok-viral Christian preachers that come to college campuses. Lampert interacted with him, asking various joking questions.
“I was like, ‘What if you don’t believe in God? Are you going to Hell?,” Lampert said. “Long story short, the answer is yes.”
Warhaftig added that SPC pulled the speakers they were playing for the event and placed them directly next to the protester. The speakers blasted music like “F - - - You” by CeeLo Green and “WAP” by Cardi B and featuring Megan Thee Stallion. Warhaftig said that some of the songs were “kind of outrageous,” but they were playing music that the protester would likely not consider “holy” in any way to deter him.
Other students asked the protestor to stop multiple times, including SPC members, who informed him that he was in the way of the event. Warhaftig also noted that the protester didn’t seem to care.
Puri said that the man didn’t appear to be aggressive or violent toward students, but they still took preventative measures and tried to move lines away from him.
“What’s really lovely about the student body is they took it in full stride,” Puri said. “Students started playing music overhead, in an essence saying that hate speech isn’t going to be tolerated on Emory campus.”
Students collectively joined to “silence that language out,” Puri noted. She said that it was great to see the Emory community find a way to create more acceptance and positivity in a negative situation, with students sticking up for their peers.
Eventually, EPD was contacted, and they worked with administration to diffuse the situation by asking the protester to leave. Puri noted that it was handled “incredibly well,” given that they were more trained to handle the situation.
“It’s nice to see the Emory community come together and say, ‘These are our values, and if you don’t fit into them, you can kindly be walked out,’” Puri said. “That’s what’s wonderful about Emory — people protect each other and look out for each other.”
The protester was asked to leave the scene before the Wheel could request comment.
