Students gathered in the Jamrich Hall atrium to use their voices in a peaceful protest against an event hosted by Turning Point USA at NMU (TPUSA@NMU).
TPUSA@NMU invited Olivia Krolczyk, a Riley Gaines Center Ambassador, to lead a forum titled “Men and Women are Different.” According to the Riley Gaines Center, their initiative is “dedicated to celebrating and supporting women and girls who have the courage to say ‘no’ to unfair and unsafe competition.”
NMU student Silas McNeally decided he wanted to use his voice to organize a peaceful protest against the event, and emphasised safety for every party involved.
“We are here to demonstrate a message, not to cause problems,” McNeally said.
When students arrived outside the room where the event would be taking place, McNeally informed them of the rules they were to follow. These rules included staying in a designated area, letting Krolczyk speak without being interrupted and not blocking exits. McNeally also emphasized that students should have fun while participating. The group had to comply with these rules along with those set by the NMU Police Department and the Associate Dean of Students.
While McNeally stressed the importance of safety, he also highlighted the right that students have to express their opinions freely.
“It’s genuinely despicable that people are willing to bring openly violent, openly bigoted people onto our campus and disrupt our home,” McNeally said. “I decided that I’d had enough sitting around.”
Donning various pride flags and holding signs, many students arrived prior to the event after the protest was posted on Snapchat and YikYak. Many used this time to talk with other students who share similar ideas with them and discuss the idea of this event.
“It’s really appalling that the school would let someone with such violent views come speak here, especially when they’re trying to incite violence against a minority that is especially being oppressed right now,” said protest attendee Willow Martin. “I think it’s really important to get together and show that we are more than that, and their hate is not welcome here.”
