UNC Asheville students retaliated against the presence of Christian protesters that preached in front of Ramsey library on Sept. 25.
“They’re so annoying and I don’t really think they need to be here,” Ko Lourdes said, 19, a student at UNC Asheville and event coordinator for Asheville Campus Entertainment.
According to Lourdes, many students and faculty urged people not to engage with the protesters.
“I feel like they’re inherently wasting their time,” Theo Driggers said, 19, a student at UNCA. “We’re not going to change for them, and they’re not going to change for us because both sides are really stubborn about it. We’re also wasting our own time trying to bother them.”
Lourdes said one of the major issues students have concerning the protesters is that they are a distraction from their classes.
“They do take away from my productivity because they’re just a fake presence on campus, and they’re distracting, especially since they’re doing it near the academic building,” Lourdes said.
51-year-old Rich Suplita, co-founder of Ask a Former Atheist, was the one who perched his sign up with his cameraman on the quad.
“This is where we stand, and of course within the context of that, we’re praying that God would soften some hearts to receive the seeds of the gospel that were sown, we’re just leaving those results ultimately up to him,” Suplita said.
Suplita said they came to campus that day in order to spread the gospel and turn hearts to the Lord.
“I’m an Evangelist. I’m a bible-believing Christian. What I’d say is I’m a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ,” Suplita said.
According to Suplita, Evangelism is a Christian that devotes their lives to spreading the word of God to masses of people. It is common to find Evangelists holding picket signs with provoking buzzer phrases in public settings and even more common on college campuses.
“It is common for members of the general public to visit UNC Asheville to express their views,” said UNCA Chief of Police Daran Dodd.
Dodd said the protesters having access to UNC Asheville’s campus for the purposes of free speech and expression is consistent with the First Amendment.
“The university does not discriminate based on a speaker’s viewpoint. Religious groups enjoy the same First Amendment free expression protections as any other speaker within the university’s designated public forums,” Dodd said.
The police chief said the protesters also visited Western Carolina University’s campus the following day and did not target UNC Asheville specifically.
According to Suplita, the response from campus police was effective in mitigating harm toward himself, and fostering open communication between him and students.
“Once they were able to impose an order there and have people come up one at a time, we were able to have some great dialogue,” Suplita said.
Suplita said at one point he had liquids thrown at him, and the student response could have been less volatile.
“It was fairly negative, I got doused with both water and soda. I’m very pleased with the way the officers responded, they’ve been very helpful with keeping the peace,” Suplita said.
According to Taylor Frangesh, a 19-year-old UNC Asheville student, some students reacted to the protesters poorly and met hate with hate, including distasteful signs of their own.
“There was a sign that said ‘kill yourself’. I don’t think that phrase should be taken very lightly, I don’t think that phrase should be thrown around,” Frangesh said.
The crowd finally dissipated around 4 P.M., and Suplita was escorted off campus by campus security.
