Stevens Point Student Sen. Roderick King Destroys Pro-Life Display

Oh, those compassionate pro-abortion people!

From the Wausau Daily Herald:

Students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point butted heads Thursday after an anti-abortion organization planted 4,000 white crosses on campus to symbolize aborted fetuses and a student responded by pulling hundreds of them out of the ground.

The display, sponsored by Pointers for Life and planted on Isadore Street outside the Health Enhancement Center, is called "Cemetery of the Innocents" and features crosses and anti-abortion and religious signs, one of which reads "Seek Jesus."

The group has come to expect minor vandalism each time it displays the exhibit, but students were shocked when Roderick King pulled up many of the crosses in protest.

"It's just so disrespectful, and it's disappointing that this comes from UWSP students. I've always thought of this campus as a tolerant place. ... Someone made these (crosses) with their own hands," said Pointers for Life member Tracey Oudenhoven.

King eventually left the site of the display after speaking with Protective Services officials, but he later returned to protest. King said his anger was not just politically charged, but also related to the anonymity of the exhibit.

"If you're not ashamed of this, then you should claim it and sign it," King said. "My student dollars are going to support this, this travesty."

Pointers for Life reserved the space but didn't indicate its sponsorship of the exhibit. At King's request, students eventually posted a sign reading, "Sponsored by Pointers for Life."

Students put up the exhibit early Wednesday. By Thursday morning, some signs had been slashed and a few crosses had been broken. King said he didn't participate in those acts.

According to a release from Students for Life of America, King did take part in the vandalism.

After having their display vandalized on the night of April 30th, several members from the UWSP pro-life group, Pointers for Life, were repairing the display around 11am on the morning of May 1st when a group of angry students, lead by UWSP Student Senator Roderick King, began to walk though the rows, taking crosses from the ground and throwing them.

King began to voice his complaints and said that Pointers for Life had "no right" to display the crosses, and that it was "his duty as a paying student" to take it down.

When the campus Protective Services officer arrived, most of the students stopped vandalizing the display, however, Senator King did not stop. He claimed, "The freedom of speech does not cover these signs and symbols!" Only after the Protective Services officer threatened to make him pay for damages, Senator King finally stopped.

Bob Tomlinson, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, apologized to Pointers for Life for the disrespect and vandalism by the students. And Student Senators Katie Kloth and Erica Wardle came to the display and clearly defined the policies, asserting that Pointers for Life had correctly reserved the space and were allowed to host the display.

That night, Pointers for Life submitted a complaint to the Student Government Association (SGA) and asked for Senator King to resign or be disciplined appropriately under the student government Constitution. However, the student government has yet to force Senator King to resign.

Jackie Kryzkowski, the Pointers for Life President, said, "Student Senators should be helping to defend our freedom of speech, not trying to take it away because of personal beliefs. If students had a problem with the display, they could exercise their freedom of speech maturely by protesting it peacefully, not by defacing our display."

There is no question that King vandalized the display on the morning of May 1. Watch Sen. King rip down the crosses.



So much for free speech.