Miami Students for Life's anti-choice display vandalized

The Miami University Students for Life's "Cemetery of the Innocents" anti-choice display was destroyed three times in the last day and a half.

President of Students for Life and junior, Ellie Wittman, said the group set up dozens of crosses and a large sign on academic quad, around the Seal, between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 12.

Four hours later, the large sign with the message, "Each Cross Represents 10 Babies Who Die By Abortion Each Day," was knocked over.

Students for Life immediately reported the incident to the Miami University Police Department (MUPD), Wittman said.

"We can't say we didn't expect the vandalism, but we would hope our fellow students would respect our right to free speech," she said.

Tuesday night, the display was vandalized again -- this time, the crosses were pulled out of the ground and stuck in recycling bins.

Students for Life again reported the incident to MUPD who ordered officers to begin patrolling the area around the Seal. Officers also shone their patrol cars' headlights on the ground near the display, so members of Students for Life could reassemble the crosses.

An hour and a half later, the crosses were pulled out of the ground, again, and placed in a pile on the ground near some recycling and trash bins.

A pro-choice banner was also hung up near the "Cemetery of Innocents" display last night with the message, "Each Cross Represents 10 Women Who Made One Of The Hardest Decisions Of Their Lives." It remains unclear which individual or group put the sign up.

Wittman demanded that the university respond to the destruction of the crosses.

"They should condemn vandalism," she said. "We reserved this space because we wanted to express our pro-life views."

This morning, Dean of Students, Kimberly Moore, wrote a letter to the Miami community on the MyMiami homepage.

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"Our values call us to protect the rights of our students and student organizations," Moore wrote. "They insist we hold and express disparate beliefs and encourage the discussion and learning that comes from sharing our differences of experience, opinion, or viewpoint."

Last April, pro-choice and anti-choice displays were vandalized at Miami's Hamilton campus. Wittman hoped destruction would not continue this year.

"I would like to address every single Miami student. We are more than willing to talk about these things," Wittman said. "Everyone is more than welcome to come to our meetings or reach out to me personally, but please do not express your viewpoints through vandalizing."

doyleca3@miamioh.edu

@cadoyle_18