Feature photo by Rusty Miller
Story by Hannah Ferreira
As students and community members filed into Tucker Theater for MTSU’s Constitution Day event, “Defining Democracy,” featuring former Vice President Mike Pence, several students formed a protest in the grove of trees outside the theater.
The dissenters gathered around 2:40 p.m., 40 minutes after the doors opened for the highly anticipated event.
Up until then, the only other activity taking place outside was a voter registration booth run by the campus chapters of American Democracy Project and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Despite initial concerns about a potentially large amount of student protestors, demonstrated by numerous cops parked outside of and patrolling the theater, the protest remained small and subdued throughout the entire event.
At first, the gathering was made up of about 10 students who spontaneously assembled. These individuals were not representing a particular organization, but they brought various signs that expressed their dissent to Pence’s invitation to speak on campus.
They arrived bearing a variety of handmade signs with sayings like “no fascists on our campus” and “democracy…but only for oil barons and apartheid states!!!”
One of the student protestors said their reason for being there was “championing the cause of democracy” and expressing their “discomfort” that MTSU “specifically chose Pence” for such an important day in the campus community.
The student additionally remarked that this is “not a free speech issue,” that he was welcome to express his views, but rather, it was the fact that Pence was invited to be the “figurehead” of Constitution Day.
The students proactively printed out copies of MTSU’s policies regarding student free speech on campus, highlighting the section that permitted them to be there.
“Mike Pence is not a symbol of democracy,” the group said in unison, following a request from a passerby.
Several other passersby expressed their appreciation for their dissent, one of them recalling how she spent a lot of time protesting the Vietnam War when she was a student.
Shortly after the event began, the group of protesters moved to the other side of the theater, closer to where the voter registration booth was being run. A larger group began to form as students arrived late to the event and were disappointed to learn that the event was over capacity but held out hope some would leave early and provide an open seat.
Around 3:54 p.m., as the ending question-and-answer session was taking place, the group of student protesters and a few others engaged in a spirited conversation about mail-in voting, sparked by a poster that condemned Pence for opposing it. Though voices were occasionally raised, the group remained peaceful.
As the event drew to a close around 4:30 p.m., the gathering swelled in size and raised its signs once again as students filed out of the theater.
This event marked the end of MTSU’s celebration of Constitution Week.
For the Sidelines live updates on both the event and the protests, visit @MTSUSidelines on X.
Hannah Ferreira is a reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact the News Editor, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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