Juliana Bomark
A large group of students and faculty attend the Unity Party planning meeting in the Meyer Ballroom. Associated Student Government (ASG) is determined to face the controversial speech by Jared Taylor with a positive alternative to protest.
Disputes over an appropriate response to Jared Taylor’s speaking engagement have arisen between students and school administration.
Some students argue that the school is discouraging their First Amendment right to peaceful assembly while others argue that protesting doesn’t send the right message.
One group of students took a more creative approach and is trying to use the rules of the club against itself.
On March 7, when President John Marshall sent his campus-wide email regarding the event, Western Culture Club had just five members. Now, they have 25 members.
This is because of a plan hatched by a group of 20 students to assume a majority within the club and remove the sitting officers. Once replaced with new officers, they would dissolve the Western Culture Club. English senior Tahirih Bochmann was part of that group of students.
“Their constitution is so bare bones and really left them open to what we planned on – was to take over the club basically,” said Bochmann. “This is a Hail Mary but maybe this is an opportunity for us to cancel the event.”
According to Bochmann, the club’s constitution stated that an 80% majority was needed to vote members out and it only took two members to move on election. She said that the plan is under review by administration at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) at this time and it is unlikely that it will be enough to stop the event from happening.
Applebaugh said that if the event were to be cancelled, it would simply move off campus.
A recent article was published in The Revolutionist, a local zine that was critical regarding the presence of white supremacy on campus.
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel filed an open records request at CMU for the administration’s emails regarding the Taylor event and found that President Marshall was aware of these sentiments and responded in an email saying:
“Yes, I’m aware of the antifa lunatic who runs that blog. He and Anne Landman lace me up periodically,” wrote President Marshall.
The article in the Revolutionist was written by Jacob Richards and also posted to Anne Landman’s blog. Landman and Richards have both separately published several articles that are critical of CMU, President Marshall and former CMU President Tim Foster.
The “Mav Unity Party: Celebrating Our Diverse Community” was developed by Associated Student Government (ASG) and posited as an alternative to protest. It has the support of campus administration and is expected to be an all-day event.
“Rather than engaging in conflict, we are choosing to demonstrate what truly defines CMU—a thriving, inclusive community that stands together,” wrote political science student Alexander Austin about the proposed event in an email to President Marshall.
On March 10, a meeting was held which intended to plan the Unity Party with interested organizations. In an announcement from ASG President Leilani Domingo, it was stated that President Marshall would be in attendance.
However, once the planning meeting began, it was announced that President Marshall would not be attending. Then it became less about logistics and more about an airing of grievances.
Vice President of Student Services Jody Diers spoke at the beginning and emphasized her priority was physical safety at the event. Diers was booed and several people left the meeting while she was speaking.
After that, Domingo and ASG Vice President Myles Newble took over. The microphone was passed around to people in the audience and many used this as an opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions.
“We can’t reach across and make these people talk. Their minds are already made up when they start inviting people who say ‘others are lesser.’ You have to make fascists afraid again,” said an attendee.
Some students feel that it was inappropriate to position other students to receive the grievances that were intended for President Marshall and other administrators. To them, because the administration seemed so keen on being involved, it felt more like a marketing opportunity than a real show of solidarity.
Other students feel peaceful assembly that explicitly condemns white supremacy is a more fitting response. Many feel the Unity Party and CMU administrators are unjustly concerned that the protest will become violent.
“I think that it’s pretty dangerous to gather all of these students together in the middle of campus in the middle of campus when we know that an event like this happening and there’s a lot of people mobilizing around it on the internet with connections to a lot of really horrible groups,” said Bochmann. “I think that the idea and the spirit behind it is fantastic but it does make me worry.”
On Taylor’s twitter, many of his supporters in the area have expressed interest in attending the event. The event is open to the public but is also first-come first-served with only 80 total seats available.
According to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, acts of domestic terror, such as mass shootings, tend to be carried out by right-wing, white-supremacist, single perpetrators.
They are generally racially, spiritually or governmentally motivated and account for the majority of deaths in domestic terror situations.
Whatever happens on March 27, CMU administration is taking steps to work with local law enforcement to ensure that they are prepared for anything.