News

FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, February 15, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-life display at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) was attacked by vandals who erased and overwrote the pro-life messages with pro-abortion slogans, including one reading “Death to Fascists.”

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The display was a participation in National Pro-Life Chalk Day, a project of Students for Life of America, which teams with hundreds of pro-life campus groups in 48 U.S. states. On February 3, students across the country drew slogans on sidewalks and pavements that conveyed pro-life messages.

At UMW, by the next day, many had been erased or written over.

“For a community that claims to be as open-minded as UMW, it was disappointing to see that we weren’t afforded the same respect as other campus groups that use similar methods,” wrote UMW senior Michael Gardner, the vice president of the school’s pro-life group, in a Feb 9 letter to the editor of the student newspaper. “Doesn’t pro-choice mean being open to all choices, not just the ones you believe in?”

Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director of Students for Life of America, called the threatening remarks “outrageous” and called on UMW officials to hold the vandals accountable.

“All universities should be places for education and open discussion not hostile and threatening environments for students with a pro-life view,” said Hawkins. “Students, such as those at the University Mary Washington, deserve to have their first amendment rights protected on campus.”