Created Equal Prevails in Free Speech Battle With University

from Mark Harrington, National Director
Created Equal

Columbus, OH – Nov 18, 2015 – The student government of Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio has scrapped a student-proposed initiative to stop Created Equal. For years, we have brought our pro-life outreach to public sidewalks at a busy thoroughfare in the heart of this private university. After knocking over our signs, recruiting a "bed sheet brigade" to try to cover our pictures of abortion victims, standing in the street in front of our Truth Truck and JumboTV trailer, students took their bullying to a new level with a plan to purchase public sidewalks, thereby killing free speech. But the initiative failed. Watch the clip from 10TV news!

Watch the Video below: Abortion protest sparks debate over sidewalks

 

As 10TV reports, the City of Westerville stated their sidewalks are not for sale. However, the effort never reached that level as last night the student government rejected the proposal. Otterbein student government president Carrie Coisman said, "[T]he proposal did not align with our values of diversity and commitment to campus dialogue of opposing views."

Click here to read the 10TV article
Click here to read our blog post about the sidewalk proposal
Click here to see photos of our outreach at Otterbein

Otterbein University's statement on the attempt to stop free speech reads, "We respect the rights of any group who wishes to share and express their opinions on public property and encourage our students to either engage in debate; ignore it; or learn the process that takes place between debates and protesting."

"We fight for free speech almost as much we make the case against abortion on college campuses. This is a victory for us, as well as for every pro-life group in America. The decision by student leadership to reject this audacious move to kill our First Amendment rights is encouraging, especially in the wake of events at Yale and University of Missouri. While many students clamor for the supposed right to be coddled, today free speech won." – Mark Harrington, National Director, Created Equal