Anti-queer hate group Official Street Preachers appeared in the University of Louisville’s ‘Free Speech Zone’ on campus for five hours this Tuesday and [x amount of hours] the following day. This Free Speech Zone has recently been relocated to a more central area for foot traffic on campus due to construction at the Speed Art Museum. The zone is located in between the university’s Interfaith center, Davidson Hall, and the Life Sciences building, the latter two where many classes are held during the day.

After a post from student group Generation Action informed students of the upcoming event, the preachers were met with student response from several organizations who gathered resources for students wishing to hold a counter-protest to the demonstration. Students were told by both staff mediators and student organization leaders not to go past the ropes set up for the Preachers to be in, not to drown them out, and not to heckle them. Student organizers also discouraged counter-protestors from engaging in conversation with the Preachers in general.

The Preachers were quickly outnumbered by UofL students who formed lines along the sidewalk to block the view of the Preachers, who throughout the first hour dramatically revealed large banners with statements that could be seen above the heads of counter-protestors like “Was Slavery Wrong?”

The University of Louisville issued a statement saying that the Preachers do not represent the University’s values, despite being allowed to protest on their grounds.

By 3pm the students had completely encircled the space set aside for the Preachers, drowning out any potential speech they could have given beyond the circle, since the Preachers arrived with no audio equipment, not even a megaphone. A staff member stood inside the circle against the ropes, preventing the crowd from moving any farther. The Preachers occasionally filmed students encircling them.

A student told me that around 4pm the Preachers left the campus Free Speech Zone, an hour before they were scheduled to do so. Rumor began to spread that the speakers would be returning the following day, which was confirmed by an email sent hours later from Dean of Students Michael Mardis and Vice President for Institutional Equity Lee Gill, which read:

UofL community,

We have received numerous concerns about a group and the messages they are sharing on campus today and tomorrow.

The University of Louisville community finds this type of message deplorable. However, as a state institution bound by law and committed to the principles of the First Amendment, the university is required to provide access to individuals and groups that are not part of the campus community who wish to engage in speech activities. Officials from the Student Affairs and Institutional Equity offices were on site to talk to students and to share information on the university’s free speech and speech and literature distribution policies.

The university does not condone any type of threatening, harassing or condemning speech directed toward any members of our campus community. We support our students, faculty and staff and will continue to promote a culture in which all members of our campus community feel safe, welcome and valued.

Students who seek additional support may contact the Counseling Center, Cultural and Equity Center, Dean of Students Office or the Office of Institutional Equity.

According to a UofL staff member I spoke to at the first day of counter-protesting, Mardis is one of the people who are responsible for granting the Preachers permission to use the Free Speech Zone.

Following the email, student advocacy groups began preparing for the next day of counter-protesting. The Young Communist League discouraged any interaction with the Preachers on the second day of protesting, instead to create a barricade for students to safely pass through a central area of campus.

The following Wednesday showed a different tone. ULPD officers arrived at the Free Speech Zone minutes before they arrived. One detective I spoke to said that the Preachers were denied an escort service and ULPD was only there to monitor the situation. Eleven o’clock came, and no Preachers arrived. What did arrive was rain that washed away chalking that had been done along the walkways surrounding the Free Speech Zone, which now held a larger barricade for the Preachers to inhabit. The counter-protest was much more organized, with leaders of student organizations wearing labels denoting them as such, cases of water for participants and passerby, and a new plan to disrupt without creating an undesirable response.

The preachers finally arrived at 3:13 pm after, according to a ULPD source, asking to reschedule their protest to Friday and being turned down. This time two men came instead of three, the speaker equipped with a small microphone and speaker to project his voice. The counter-protest was much more organized, with students being asked to surround the free speech zone with their backs turned to the Preachers, who left swiftly at 5pm.