Unidentified student vandals or a vandal ripped over 100 crosses out of the ground at a Clemson University pro-life display, according to a Monday report.
Clemson’s Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter set up the display, which featured 202 white crosses, each representing 30 aborted fetuses in South Carolina, reported Campus Reform. The vandal or vandals stole all but 30 of the crosses and deposited them in a men’s restroom on campus.
YAF chairwoman Morgan Bailey said the vandalism occurred during her brief absence from managing the display. Witnesses said a “person with long blonde hair” had committed the act, she said. Bailey told a Clemson dean about the vandalism and submitted a report to the school’s police department.
“I hope that [the Clemson University Police Department] catches who did this and that the university makes it clear that students should not shut down another student’s’/organization’s speech just because they disagree,” Bailey told Campus Reform. “We would’ve reset it up…but we only had like 30 crosses leftover.”
Clemson students tweeted their disdain for the pro-life display around the time that the vandalism transpired.
“WHY did I just see a bunch of crosses saying ‘in honor of all the lives lost to abortion’ on campus????????” student Jessica Renee said on Twitter.
“Kick them and rip them out of the ground,” Taylor Erin, another Clemson student, replied. “Now.”
“You can see the hypocrisy in the current political climate when the media and schools embraced students rallying against guns, but consistently thwart the pro-life speech of students who rally for mothers and their preborn infants,” Kristi Hamrick, spokeswoman for Students for Life of America (SFLA), told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Pro-life students deserve the same respect and response as any other student voicing their passion. It’s a shame that respect for life — so fundamental to us all — is not part of the fabric of all our schools.”
SFLA President Kristan Hawkins detailed vandalism, group recognition rejection, and other hardships faced by pro-life groups in a Fox News op-ed.
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Clemson told Campus Reform that its police department was investigating the vandalism.
“If the person(s) found responsible for the vandalism are student(s), in addition to any criminal charges brought by law enforcement, they would be subject to review and possible disciplinary action by the university’s Office of Community and Ethical Standards for violation of the student code of conduct,” Robin Denny, Clemson spokeswoman, told TheDCNF.
This post has been updated with comment from Clemson.
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