Letters to the Editor
In response to “Student’s preaching sparks First Amendment debate on UA campus” (by Brittny Mejia, April 29):
The University’s Religious Studies Program was mentioned in an April 29, 2013, Wildcat article regarding First Amendment activities on campus. The Religious Studies Program at the University of Arizona promotes inclusivity, diversity, and respect. Through studying a wide range of worldviews from an academic perspective, the Religious Studies major provides students with the tools to develop critical thinking skills and an advanced ability to navigate diverse global cultures. The Religious Studies faculty commend the students who shared positive messages at the April 30th “You Deserve” rally.
Karen Seat, Director
Religious Studies Program
The University of Arizona
Rape is one of the most delicate topics to deal with, and communicate about. In the U.S., about every 2 minutes, someone is being sexually assaulted, which means on average 207,754 victims are raped a year. No one deserves to be robbed in such way and be treated like an object. This past Tuesday a very well-known student at the University of Arizona who goes by the name of Dean Saxton or brother Dean, decided to communicate to every onlooker at the university how he felt about this topic. His public rants on his extreme opinions are nothing new to us students at the university; they always cause disgusted looks and offend people. His signs “you deserve rape” and “sorority girls are whores” caused a bigger commotion than usual, not only did he let all females that passed by who were wearing revealing clothes know that they deserved to be raped because they are asking for it, but condemned them and called them names for answering back at him. The university posted on their behalf, “The University of Arizona does not endorse or condone the message of the campus speaker — in fact, it considers it to be vile and repugnant.” Unless brother Dean breaks the student conduct rules no one can act against him, therefore, I propose to have a designated area that is more excluded for him to preach his sermon and not have him right in front of Heritage Hill, where there are people passing by to get to class, or perhaps a petition to have him tone down his way of refereeing to “whores” to any girl that responds to him, like he did this past Tuesday. I firmly believe in freedom of speech but if Mr. Saxton was to have his designated area that was not as public as Heritage Hill, and that way have people that actually do want to hear his sermons go to him, maybe everyone could have a “win-win situation,” and not be publicly attacked while walking through campus.
Betsy Lara, psychology sophomore
Online Comments
In response to “Student’s preaching sparks First Amendment debate on UA campus” (by Brittny Mejia, April 29):
That’s the ticket. Instead of violating the law by taking away his RIGHT to free speech, use your right to free speech to counter-protest. Taking away someone’s rights never accomplished anything. Standing up for your opinions in a legal and constitutional manner is the way to go about solving this problem.
—Kevin Wos
