Protesters attempt to block Diag display

By David Enders

Daily Staff Reporter

NORMAN NG/Daily

Protesters attempt to block setup of the Genocide Awareness Project as a Department of Public Safety officer looks on.

Interim Dean of Students Frank Cianciola spoke for nearly an hour yesterday morning with students protesting an anti-abortion group before Department of Public Safety officers moved in and threatened to arrest the protesters.

"I was simply stating the position that there was a student group who had followed all the proper procedures to secure the Diag," Cianciola said.

A group of about 10 students supporting a pro-choice stance attempted to block members of the Genocide Awareness Project from setting up a display decrying abortion on the Diag around 7:30 a.m. It was the second day of the two-day exhibit.

University spokeswoman Diane Brown said officers had reached the second warning of a three-warning system given prior to arrest in protest situations.

The students occupied the space intended for the display of 30 mounted six-foot by 13-foot photographs graphically portraying aborted fetuses next to images of atrocities including the Holocaust, racially-motivated lynchings and genocide in Rwanda.

Members of GAP began setting up the display despite the protest. "We just worked around them," said GAP member Gary Rozier of New Jersey.

DPS officers moved inside the barriers erected to separate GAP members standing with the photographs from those walking through the Diag, as well and increasing the number of officers on hand from yesterday. Brown said "safety concerns" for the group motivated both moves.

Although protesters remained on the Diag throughout the day, their actions were limited to marching circles around the display and engaging GAP members in debate.

"Honestly, I was probably expecting more protest," said the Rev. Jim Kusher of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, one of the campus groups sponsoring GAP. "I can't say I'm disappointed either way, but I was expecting that there might be a little more violence in the protest.

"Not so much violence against people but people taking out anger against the displays," he said.

At other campuses GAP has visited, reactions have included tears and vandalism. A University of Kansas student drove his car into the display.

Kusher also expected protesters to be "more heated in their rhetoric."

Reactions to the display were emotional - on both sides.

"I think this is a ridiculous display against the pro-choice movement," said LSA freshman Leslie Ward, who participated in the sit-in and later marched around the display with other protesters.

"I think it's ridiculous that they force people to look at this," she said.

LSA senior Korbi Ghosh was noticeably affected as she walked by the display. "I understand why people don't want to look at it," she said. "I look atit and I want to cry."

Ghosh said she was not affiliated with the group, but sympathized with their cause. "People look at abortion as a political issue, and it's really an issue of humanity," she said. "It's real. The pictures are real. I feel like everyone has a right to know what the truth is."

Ghosh's response is the type GAP is looking for, Kusher said. "Sometimes it takes a little shock value to get people to think about what abortion really is and really does," he said.

Not everyone was interested in the chance to debate the issue. "I want them to go away so I can sit in the Diag and study in peace," LSA sophomore Michelle Goldstein said.

She and others also complained about the amount of space devoted to the display. The barriers to protect GAP kept students from their normal traverse of the Diag.

"While it was a large area, the perimeter of the Diag was maintained," Cianciola said. "I don't think the Diag was blocked off. It was done in conjunction with trying to plan for the display."

Eastern Michigan University officials may face similar concerns today and tomorrow when GAP visits their campus.