EXCLUSIVE: Pro-life student group's Free Speech Ball slashed at campus welcome
A Leadership Institute Free Speech ball was stabbed at a pro-life event at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
'We were surprised it even happened, we thought people would be excited to be able to write whatever they wanted on the ball,' Arctic Students for Life president Mady Weeks told Campus Reform.
A Leadership Institute Free Speech ball was stabbed at a pro-life event at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Arctic Students for Life, the campus chapter of Students for Life on UAF’s campus, was tabling at a student welcome event, and brought the Free Speech ball for students to write messages on. At some point, a student stabbed the ball and deflated it. Fortunately, the students were able to repair and inflate the ball again.
Leadership Institute Regional Field Coordinator Trevor Benson shared the story in an email to Campus Reform.
[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Pro-life group’s display vandalized 10 times at Christopher Newport University]
“On the night of Saturday, September 23rd, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, in Fairbanks, Alaska, a Leadership Institute Free Speech Ball was apparently slashed while being used in an approved activity by the Arctic Students For Life chapter while tabling at the 100th Anniversary of Starvation Gulch, an annual welcome week student tradition in which massive bonfires are burned on campus by the university,” said Benson.
Students for Life received prior approval from the university to table at the event, Benson said. They were one of the only campus organizations present at the event, which takes place on a large outdoor parking lot on campus. The table was also funded by an LI event grant, and a group of students received an LI training beforehand to plan for the event.
The ball, meanwhile, was massively popular, and a large number of students signed it, before an unknown perpetrator slashed it open with an unknown object.
Benson also provided photos of the ball at the event, which can be seen below. In the first image, a student can be seen writing on the fully inflated ball. In the second, the ball can be seen significantly deflated, but a student can still be seen writing on it. One of the Students for Life members can also be seen holding a sign that says, “Sign the Free Speech ball. Someone popped it. Sign it anyways.”
A student signs the ball before it was slashed
Another student signs the slashed ball, while an SFL member encourages students to sign
He also provided video evidence of the slashed ball.
Benson also said that students continued to sign the deflated ball, and club members found tape, patched up the cut, and reinflated the ball.
Arctic Students for Life president Mady Weeks said in a statement to Campus Reform that the group is unaware who slashed their ball. “We were surprised it even happened, we thought people would be excited to be able to write whatever they wanted on the ball,” she said. The university has not responded to the incident, she added.
But the group is undeterred. “We have a second free speech ball, and we fully intend on rolling it around campus later this year! We’ve already started to get snow, so doing it in winter might be a challenge. But we are excited about doing it in the springtime!”
The university told Campus Reform that campus police and administrative staff were there, but no one witnessed any conflicts, nor did anyone receive reports of vandalism. The university pointed toward resources for resolving interpersonal conflict, and affirmed its commitment to the free flow of information and ideas.
Weeks acknowledged that the group did not contact campus police.
