Khasyaw Wortham, a junior criminology major began working at the Women’s Resource Center this semester. Her first duty was to create a bulletin board about reproductive rights, which showcased options for women regarding contraception and pregnancies.
Wortham exhibited the bulletin board in the Woodbury Campus Center in late January. It was ripped apart and found the next morning.
The Women’s Resource Center put up another bulletin board shortly after that focussed on pro-choice information. On Feb. 13 that board was destroyed.
It is estimated the bulletin boards were ripped down around 10 p.m., around the time the Woodbury Campus Center closes during the week.
Mary Kay Kasper, acting coordinator of the Women’s Resource Center, said a police report was filed and the Woodbury Campus Center community is aware of the problem.
According to the police there are no suspects.
Police said extra rounds will be taken to prevent future vandalism.
The women at the center agree that the vandals destroyed the boards as a way of expressing their own views, yet in doing so they infringed upon the center’s freedom of speech.
“The whole point of the board is to bring up discussion,” said Jennifer Burnham an undeclared sophomore who works at the center. ” Not everyone at the Women’s Resource Center is pro- choice, but it is important to voice our own opinions.”
Women at the center said that a few mishaps will not dishearten them; they will continue to inform the University community.
“This is not community behavior,” said Kasper. “We are not going to let that kind of response keep us from educating people.”
Kasper noted there are no foolproof ways to deal with the destruction. However, the center plans to post a new reproductive rights bulletin this week. Kasper talked about adding a plastic cover to put over the bulletin board to protect it. She also discussed a graffiti board, which will give people the opportunity to write and share their own opinions about reproductive rights.
The Women’s Resource Center is very open to talking about issues and differences, Kasper said.
The Feminist Campus Organization, which has reproductive rights groups, is a liaison for colleges and universities across the country. They work to educate students and have created a safe network for members to express their freedom of choice.
“The easiest way to keep a reproductive rights board up is to invest in a glass case. If the case is vandalized that is a destruction of property,” said Debbie Castro, a campus web director for www. Feminist Campus.org.
According to Castro many colleges and universities with reproductive rights activist groups are targeted by hostile groups.
“We monitor our Web site’s electronic bulletin boards daily to protect members’ rights,” Castro said. “This gives comfort to the members, to voice their pro-choice beliefs knowing they won’t be terrorized by anti-choice organizations.”
Castro stresses the importance to having safe contacts.
“It’s imperative to promote dialogue, be persistent, re-poster the space over and over, talk to campus administrators and student government,” said Castro.
The Women’s Resource Center will not change its polices because of this incident, said Kasper.
Gorham Editor Erin Zwirn can be reached at [email protected]