Group’s ‘hate speech’ on WCU campus causes stir

WEST CHESTER >> If one person can use their right for freedom of speech, so can another.

West Chester University public relations executive director Nancy Santos Gainer told the Daily Local News on Friday that two individuals from “Matthew 24 Ministries” came uninvited to the campus on Thursday.

“The message goes against everything we stand for as an institution of higher learning,” Gainer said.

Parents of students told the Daily Local News that the men

used derogatory language. Several parents said the men called the students “Nazis” and “whores” and

said they are going to hell.

Parents described the message as hate speech.

“It was a distasteful message,”

Gainer said. “It was an extremely disheartening to have that on our campus.”

Gainer said the university sought legal advice on the matter. The university is a public institution on public property. They were informed that people can be in the public areas, such as sidewalks and certain walkways, if they are obeying the law. Additionally they were told the university is required to let such people speak and exercise their first amendment rights.

“We were encouraging our students to exercise their rights to speak about our values and civil values, in terms of what we stand for, as intelligent people in a civil and academic community,” Gainer said.

One parent who reached out to the Daily Local News said that their child was among the students to be “harassed” by the speakers.

“My child approached them to talk with them and one of the men told her she is going to hell,” the parent said.

The men stood in the Academic Quad which is the center point of majority of the academic buildings on north campus.

John Villella, chief of staff and executive deputy to recently appointed university President Chris Fiorentino, sent an alert email on Thursday to students and faculty. He stated that Public Safety informed him that “representatives of ‘Matthew 24’ are in the Academic Quad area. Public Safety will have a visible presence and monitor the activity.”

The parent said that they complained to the university and Department of Public Safety university police about the “harassment of their students on school grounds. They said they would not remove the men because of the first amendment of the Constitution.” The parent noted that the organization obtained a permit. However, Grainer said it was unclear if Matthew 24 Ministries obtained a permit.

“I support the Constitution and am a defender of freedom of speech. (Thursday) went too far. I draw the line with hate speech and harassment,” the parent wrote in an email to the Daily Local News. “In light of the increase in hate speech and hate crimes in this country - particularly in schools - administrations of institutions of higher learning like West Chester need to take a stand and be an example for all that this will not be tolerated.”

Grainer said the students attempted to converse with the men, and the university officials encouraged students to express their views and opinions. Parents said that professors also disputed what the men said.

Attempts to reach Matthew 24 Ministries for comment were unsuccessful. The website Matthew-24Ministries.com is listed as “currently under construction.” A phone number provided on the website is out of service.

Visit Daily Local News staff writer Ginger Rae Dunbar’s blog about journalism and volunteering as a firefighter at FirefighterGinger.blogspot.com.