Charges against University of Calgary students dropped

According to the Canadian Constitution Foundation, the Alberta Crown Prosecutors’ Office has dropped trespassing charges against a group of University of Calgary students.

The charges against the University of Calgary students were pressed by the University of Calgary. The trespassing charges were filed after the students, staging a pro-life demonstration, refused to comply with the university’s demands.

As part of the Genocide Awareness Project, the students had arranged themselves in a circle with large colour photos of aborted fetuses. The university asked the students to project their signs in a circle facing inwards, rather than outwards, citing “security concerns.”

The failure to comply resulted in trespassing charges, which were just dropped yesterday. (For more information on the case, click here.)

Without hesitation, I’d say the Crown got it right. The University of Calgary certainly seems out of line on this one. And why they chose to restrict this particular (provocative) display is beyond me.

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But a curiosity I’m more inclined to explore is why many students, like those mentioned above, are so loyal to their megaphones and incendiary displays. I know the University of Calgary offers a Philosophy of Logic course, so that can’t be it.

Save a few visually-inclined passersby (and maybe Juno) how many people will actually be persuaded to change their beliefs on a contentious issue like abortion based on a photo (however disturbing that photo may be)?  Or, for that matter, on a really cleverly-rhymed cheer, or matching locally-manufactured T-shirts?

Students have a reputation for being opinionated and ostentatious, but why don’t we try compelling, for a change? Though it doesn’t have the same shock value as an enlarged aborted fetus, a pamphlet on adoption might better serve the cause. Because from what I’ve seen, the most offensive is rarely the most persuasive.

- photo by January152010