Fairmont State University students expressed disapproval and participated in a counter-protest against anti-feminist religious demonstrators who visited the campus on Wednesday, April 15.
Students of the university organized resistance efforts when members of the Key of David Christian Center arrived at the Falcon Center Quad and began to express anti-feminist messaging, including the use of sexist and sex-negative language directed towards female students as they walked by.
The group utilized racist and homophobic language alongside its anti-feminist messaging, claiming it to be that of the Christian faith. Members of campus Christian groups, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, condemned the messaging and countered it with claims that God represents love.
Fairmont State University student Malachi Hinger stood between the demonstrators and other students as he read from the Bible and condemned the demonstrators’ rhetoric.
“The Bible says the greatest debt that you can carry is love! It is love, that is the greatest debt that you can carry,” Hinger said. “Do you proudly say that he is treating you with love?” Hinger continued.
Hinger said that the demonstrator’s messaging contradicted the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
(Alexis Gray)
“The way that they were trying to condemn people doesn’t necessarily match up with the way Jesus taught and how the Bible teaches us to love, which ultimately led me to engaging in conversation to which they didn’t really want to have. And it ended up in me projecting my voice across the campus to tell people the natural truth,” Hinger said.
Hinger also said that he stood between demonstrators and other students because he felt God had strengthened him to act as a mediator and a beneficiary of peace.
“I didn’t want someone to get arrested, and I don’t want someone to have a false doctrine or false view on Christianity,” he said. Fairmont State Student Harrison Linkous joined Hinger, preaching to the crowd from atop benches located about 20 feet from Key of David members. His message was simple: Jesus is love.
“He loves you no matter what. There is no man on earth who loves the way he loves,” Linkous said. “There is nothing you can do to pluck yourself from his hands. The only thing you have to do to accept Jesus as your lord and savior is to say, You are my God,” Linkous said.
Linkous then encouraged students to go home and to no longer give any attention to the demonstrators.
A Fairmont State University student who only wished to be identified as Lilly said that Jesus teaches equality under Christ, regardless of gender, race, or religion.
Another student, Addie Salifa, agreed. “What they were preaching wasn’t Christ, and I think the students coming together and uniting, regardless of religious beliefs, was beautiful because everyone fought for each other, not just theirselves. I’m always going to defend what I believe, and the people I love, and I’m so glad my classmates felt the same,” she said.
Diversity of counter-protest
Students of the LGBTQ+ community also held signs expressing solidarity and affirmation. One sign read: “Promote love, be who you want to be.” Others read “No hate,” and “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Members of The Masquers, a registered student organization and working theatre organization, dressed up as angels and held signs promoting love and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community, such as “God hearts Gays,” “Homo Hugger and Proud,” and “Spread Love, Not Hate.”
“I thought, ‘I will no longer be quiet about who I am, I know there are people out there who appreciate and care about who I am, and they need to know that people care about them too,” said Dalton Stanley, who manages social media and photography for The Masquers.
(Alexis Gray)
The Masquers eventually moved their counter-protest across the quad, behind Morrow Hall. A crowd of students followed The Masquers and participated in the counter-demonstration.
Key of David demonstrators left campus around 3:30 P.M.
The University released a statement on Friday, April 17, stating that they disagreed with the messaging of the demonstrators and that the messages are contrary to what Fairmont State stands for and promotes.
The statement also clarified that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, West Virginia Code, and the University Board of Governors’ policy prevented the University from ordering the removal of the demonstrators despite their rhetoric.
(Alexis Gray)
“Note that these protections are not limited to students, faculty, and staff. Outdoor areas on campus that are generally accessible by members of the public, like the Falcon Center Quad, are treated as public forums. This means that members of the public generally have the right to gather and speak there, even when their message is unwelcome by the campus community. The university can and does enforce reasonable, content- and viewpoint-neutral restrictions regarding the time, place, and manner of such demonstrations. However, we cannot prohibit, shut down, restrict to an out-of-the-way part of campus, or drown out a demonstration simply because of the viewpoint being expressed,” the statement read.
The University reaffirmed its commitment to supporting students and included several resources available to them in its statement, such as the Student Outreach and Support Office, Student Health Services, and Campus Police.
