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Students Protest Men’s Resource Center on Campus

By Netflix & Drill , in Campus Life Local News , at October 27, 2017 Tags: , , ,

Today on campus, students were in uproar over the new “Elect Him” campaign sponsored by the Men’s Resource Center. Students were visibly upset and denounced the new group as sexist, saying that it put other groups on campus at a disadvantage. Other students thought it was fair that the organization focused on serving a group that is a minority on college campuses nationwide.

Discussion among students over the campaign became increasingly heated, as both sides would prefer to talk over each other rather than discuss the issue. The scene of the protest grew intense as dozens of counter-protesters arrived to defend the “Elect Him” campaign on campus.

Protesters of the movement saw the campaign as unfair and divisive, since it focused on a group in terms of their gender. “Men already make up the majority of people in government and don’t need a system of support that caters to them,” said Rachel Deckard, a junior political science major. “This is a campaign that affects both men and women; we don’t need another organization focused on what men want.”

Other protesters saw this as a slippery slope that would inspire a wave of men’s-only interest groups to form. “What’s next? Making mental health a men’s issue?” said Juliann Sturgeon, a senior English major. “What does it matter if men in college are more likely to be depressed or four four times more likely to commit suicide? The discussion should focus on how it affects everyone, not a particular group.” Sturgeon left the protest to go banner hold for “Step In and Step Up,” an issue personal to her, since it overwhelmingly affects college-aged women.

A number of the counter-protesters were confused that a protest was even going on, since the campus celebrates having a number of special interest groups for other parties. “I really don’t get why we are even having this discussion,” said Wilbur Charlotte, a sophomore psychology major. “Nobody has ever protested these groups before as being divisive or exclusive. Young men in college face a number of issues, and reactions like this discourage men from opening up about it.”

Though few in number, the counter-protestors argued with particular passion, realizing that if they did not, no one else would speak on their behalf.

 

– Netflix and Drill