The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

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Students to Reverend: Enough Is Enough!

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Just one day after his previous visit, the Radical Reverend returned to protest on the Newtown campus on October 26 for over five hours, and was met with fiery resistance by huge crowds of students.

Some of the surrounding students shot back at the rhetoric the Reverend was spreading through his megaphone, and others passed by with perturbed reactions.

Amid a carnival-like atmosphere, many of the students couldn’t help but be amused, with some male students going as far as to take off their shirts in mockery of the pastor.

“I think it’s kind of funny,” jested Amanda Young, an art major, who sentiment was shared by many others.

Others were less amused. “I walked in the Philly Pride parade and I had the same experience. This is pathetic,” responded Ashton Wenyon with disgust.

Both the college administration and students alike have made efforts to quell the notoriety the hate group receives when they set up in the courtyard.

Notably, teachers and security staff had scattered around police barriers in order to divert the attention of the students away from the pastor and his associates.

Professor Mehul Shah, who teaches world religion, was one of the teachers on the scene. He walked around telling students, “You’re going to heaven.”

When asked about how to deal with the Reverend’s disturbances of the regular operations of the school, Charlie Groth, a professor in the anthropology program, had much to say. “Experts say the most effective way is to ignore him, and just not be there, and it’s really difficult to do, I know. But apparently it works, and we’ve experienced it here at Bucks, at Upper Bucks,” Groth answered.

On the topic of whether or not he was violating the functions of the school as a public intuition, Groth explained, “Absolutely, he cannot do that. The thing is, is now we’re talking about legal systems, so it has to be proven in a court. So, that kind of thing can’t be proven immediately on the spot. But we do know, from what faculty have said who are trying to do class around here, that he is disrupting class. That he is disrupting education. So yeah, that’s true. That’s one of the things; he can’t disrupt regular business. But he’s doing it, and it’s not very easy to prove.”

Gina Lutz, a psychology major, met with her classmates to brainstorm solution on how to deal with such a disruption.

“I was talking with Zack Dibbard at the psychology club and we were deciding how to respond,” said Lutz. “This is at least the fourth or fifth time he’s been here.”

Lutz herself was giving out paper signs to people surrounding blockaded area, in hopes to cover him up with a barrage of the printouts. “I’ve ordered 24 x 36 fliers to hold up next time he comes,” Lutz declared boldly.

Despite the preacher’s concurrent visits, many students are still dumbfounded about his actual intentions, and whether he’s actually trying to spread a legitimate agenda or not.

“I think he’s a terrible person,” said Luke Mellus, another psychology major. “I guess he wants the attention. It’s hard to just ignore what could be triggering to some people,” Mellus concluded.

“[His sign said] We’re all brothers and sisters. We should cherish each other,” graphic design major Katarina Pak fumed, describing it as hypocritical.

Groth’s advice to students was calm, clear and reassuring. “Keep calm and go away,” she chuckled.