Activists take stand, censure
By Ken
Fountain
Senior Staff
Writer
An
anti-abortion group unaffiliated with the
University displayed posters with graphic
depictions of aborted fetuses along the
sidewalks of Butler Plaza
(between the
M.D. Anderson Memorial Library and Philip
Hoffman Hall) for about an hour and a half
Monday before leaving under threat of
arrest.
"Survivors"
is a Lake Arrowhead,
Calif.-based organization
"designed to
both educate and activate
High School and College
age students as their
legacy as Survivors
of the greatest Holocaust
in world history,"
according to its Web
site.
UH
officials told members
of the group they
had failed to secure
permission to set
up their display under
the procedures outlined
in the Student Life
Policies
published
in the 2001-2002 UH
Student Handbook.
UH General
Counsel Dennis Duffy and UH Police
Department Lt. Roger Byars told Dan
McCullough, the group's national director,
the approximately seven
group members
would have to remove the posters and leave
or face arrest.
After
first saying the group would remain,
McCullough told Byars, "We'll go ahead and
leave, but only because we have been
threatened with arrest."
The group
members then picked up the posters, packed
them into a trailer being towed by their
recreational vehicle and drove away. Group
member Cheryl
Conrad said
the group was "in the process of suing"
the University of Texas System, and
threatened to file suit against UH as
well.
According
to the Student Life Policies, groups
wishing to hold an event that is
"potentially disruptive" must receive
permission from the Dean of Students
Office as to
the "time, place and manner of the event"
at least two weeks prior.
Four
campus sites are listed as authorized for
such events, and Butler Plaza is not one
of them.
Keith
Mason, director of the Midwest chapter of
Survivors, said the group had attempted to
secure permission through a letter about a
month ago, but "we felt
like we were
blown off."
Dean of
Students William Munson said the group
first made its request by fax Feb. 5. The
next day, Munson responded by sending a
copy of the UH policies,
he said.
During a
phone conversation May 14, McCullough told
Munson the group had not yet made a
reservation through the UC Reservations
Office, and Munson
told him that
would be the "the best first step."
McCullough told him, "We'll get back to
you," Munson said.
Munson
said he sent a fax to the group confirming
the substance of the phone call, and
restating that since the group had not
made a reservation, it would
not be
expected on campus Monday.
Mason
confirmed the group was aware of the
University's policies.
While none
of the Survivors members are affiliated
with UH, among the spectators was
political science junior Jeanne Tullos,
chairwoman of Pro-Life
Cougars, a
group that attempted to bring a
15,000-square-foot display with similar
photographs to Butler Plaza in November
but was denied permission.
Tullos'
group filed a federal lawsuit against the
University, Vice President for Student
Affairs Elwyn Lee and Dean of Students
William Munson in January,
claiming its
First Amendment right to free speech was
violated.
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