insight

THEIR OPINION

By Mary Robertson, Erika Church, Misty Conrad, Natasha Lamoreux

Justice for All not appropriate for campus

When we read Dr. Jordan's letter to the student body (via MetroConnect e-mail Sept. 28) about dialogue, we were surprised to see that he felt it appropriate to consider the Justice for All event on par with the events on racism and gay rights. The JFA exhibit is a far cry from a dialogue on abortion conducted "in a safe and open environment," and we propose to the administration that this event constitutes harassment and, in particular, harassment of women.

Why not harassment against all of us? Because men do not get pregnant or have abortions. JFA asserts its position on abortion by exploiting extreme images using an invasive medium, which is unavoidable by most people who conduct business on campus, including students, faculty, staff, and children who attend daycare. In case anyone has forgotten, we do have a right to a legal abortion in the United States. We have the right to make a private decision about our private lives in a private consultation with our doctors. As women, the JFA event threatens our right to move about our college campus without being shamed, intimidated, or made to fear for our physical autonomy. JFA's tactics are a method of silencing, scaring, and shaming women. We are not proposing limiting free speech on the Auraria Campus, but rather that this form of speech is NOT protected. JFA has a right to be here, to display images, and to exchange thoughts with students, but the scale, location, duration and method is inappropriate and creates a hostile environment for women.

Still not buying our argument? What other event on campus compels the counseling center to be on site for its entire duration? Unlike the Race Machine and the Abigail Garner event, which are paid for and sponsored by Student Activities, the JFA exhibit is sponsored by one student club and JFA pays rent to AHEC. It is wholly deceptive, not only in its misrepresentation of the images on display, but by the way young people who are not Auraria students infiltrate the "audience" and provoke heated debate, as well as the useless signs that hardly serve as a warning and inappropriately use the word "genocide" to describe the exhibit. Aren't fanatical groups like Justice for All the same people who bomb abortion clinics, murder doctors, and camp outside the homes of doctors, harassing them and their neighbors for months on end?

We appreciate Dr. Jordan's call for dialogue about difficult subjects, but we do not find it appropriate for Metro's president, or any other person in a position of authority on this campus, to condone what is clearly an inflammatory, unintelligent, pseudo-scientific attempt at communication. Certainly this administration has an obligation to protect its best interests, and if those in authority are not willing to stand up against JFA, at the very least, do not insult the integrity of this campus by acting like this event deserves merit or is worthy of any kind of abortion dialogue.

Mary Robertson may be contacted at tamale@speakeasy.net