After having its pro-life display removed from the student center, the Bama Students for Life scored a major victory on Monday: An apology from the University of Alabama.
Two weeks ago, the pro-life student group’s poster board, which featured images of aborted babies, was secretly removed from a display case in the Ferguson Center Student Union. The board was deemed “offensive,” and an administrator removed it prior to the scheduled end of the display period.
After pressure from Students for Life and the Alliance Defending Freedom, Carl Bacon, director of Ferguson Center Student Union, sent the student group an email apology.
“Please accept my apology that your display was removed without your knowledge two days before your reserved time expired,” the email read.
Bacon offered to give the pro-life students the same display case or a different case to complete the final two days of their reservation. That two-day period will begin on Feb. 22.
Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins celebrated the apology as a free speech victory.
“Today is an historic victory for pro-life students nationwide,” she said in a statement. “Because of the courage of Bama Students for Life and the dedication of grassroots pro-life activists across America, the University of Alabama has apologized for censoring our constitutional rights. This should be a clear lesson for universities across the nation – pro-life students will not tolerate unjust actions and censorship because of our beliefs.”
In a video conversation recorded by Bama Students for Life President Claire Chretien, Student Center Event Coordinator Donna Lake originally said that the pro-life group was “lucky” to have the board up for a shorter amount of time than agreed.
“You guys were lucky to get it up there as long as you did,” she told Chretien. Lake also misrepresented the guidelines for display boards, which actually did not include restrictions on “offensive” material.
