Peter Jaskiewicz

Imagine walking around campus enjoying college life one day. Fellow students and professors are enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Then, you see people unaffiliated with your school attracting interest on campus. You hear them harassing students with their beliefs, spreading their messages around school. To the ire of the students, the college does nothing to stop the harassment. They let these people cause trouble for students, faculty, and other people affiliated with the college and do not ask them to leave.

As crazy as it sounds, these demonstrators are not breaking the law. They are expressing their First Amendment rights. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely.

The most infamous people that come to campus are from the Key of David Christian Center in Philadelphia. Led by Pastor Aden Rusfeldt, these people tend to insult students based on their religion, gender, sex, and way of life.

Penn State Abington takes public funding, so it cannot legally prevent any group from demonstrating on their campus. Because the First Amendment prevents Congress from restricting religious practices, these demonstrators are free to speak their beliefs.

Religion is not the only thing demonstrators could be promoting on college campuses. In 2018, Flat Earth 101 came to spread their theory of a flat Earth.

Penn State Abington does not have parking for all of its students; given how limited the guest parking is and how fast the lots fill up each day, some of these groups may take your parking spot when they demonstrate.

Since these debates can get heated, campus security generally set up barricades to protect demonstrators and students. If students physically confront protesters, the students will be charged, not protesters.

But if students are troubled by these demonstrators, they’re not on their own. Students can speak with counselors from the Counseling and Psychological Services via Zoom or in Cloverly 103. Security officers are around campus as well to ensure safety.

While we might not be able to stop these demonstrators from entering the school, we can try to tune them out when they do.