UBC Students for Choice has been peacefully opposing the Genocide Awareness Project's displays on our campus for five years. For the past two years, Students for Choice has actively been trying to work with the University in order to simplify the process when the GAP comes to campus. While we still very much oppose the GAP and continue to work through other avenues so that one day they will not be allowed on the UBC campus, we have accepted that, for the time being, GAP will be on campus once per semester. Therefore, we have been in meetings with the University over the past year to try and negotiate guidelines for the GAP display and for our counter-display.
In a meeting with the office of the VP Students last year, we were told that no guidelines had, as yet, been set out on paper. We were very eager to see something on paper, as there always seemed to be some miscommunication over whether Students for Choice had to book the space opposite Lifeline, and what distance we had to keep from them, amongst other logistical issues. We were promised a follow-up on this meeting, which never happened.
Early this semester, we learned that the GAP would be coming to campus
on October 30. At that point, we also received a list of regulations surrounding
the display. While most of these regulations pertained to Lifeline, a
distance of 50-feet was set out in that document for any other group booking
the space. We were shocked to see that a distance had been set without
any discussion with our group, especially as this was in direct conflict
with what we were told would happen. We promptly contacted the office
of the VP Students to meet with them regarding this regulation. At that
meeting, we learned that apparently these regulations had been in place
for four years. It was also denied that there had ever been a statement
made regarding there being no regulations in place before. However, it
was agreed that the 50-foot rule was, in fact, unreasonable, and that
the Office of the VP Students would speak with Campus Security to determine
what distance would be fair. We were also promised an answer within two
days. We finally received an answer this past Monday, a week after the
promised date, leaving us no time to respond to the fact that Campus Security,
Classroom Services and the Office of the VP Students had determined that
the 50-foot distance would be enforced.
Students for Choice feels that this distance is absolutely unreasonable.
We are not trying to single-handedly rid the campus of these displays
during our counter-display; however, we feel that, while there should
be enough space between the displays for people to pass and view the GAP
display if they so choose, there should also be plenty of space on the
opposite side of the Students for Choice display for people to pass and
not see the GAP's graphic display. Unfortunately, we feel that this goal
cannot be met at a 50-foot distance.
Therefore, we made a collective decision to cancel our booking and not
participate in active opposition as a club at today's GAP display. The
people here today oppose the GAP individually and on any number of points:
because it is anti-choice, because it is racist, and sexist, and anti-Semitic,
because it is opportunistic. Some of us are also distributing information
to those seeking it on reproductive choices and resources.
While we ultimately believe that there is no place for such bigotry on
campus, in the meantime we will fight to offer people the choice to view
the display or not. We want to be able to co-operate with the university,
but despite this willingness to co-operate and negotiate, we have repeatedly
been lied to, and promises have not been kept. The University seems to
think that this unreasonable distance is necessary to avoid violence at
the GAP display, but the only time that there has been any aggressive
action at a GAP display has been when there has not been a Students for
Choice presence. When allowed to demonstrate effectively, we offer students
a productive way of channelling their anger, frustration, and disgust
at the presence of the GAP display. Students for Choice is also frustrated
that the University process has made it impossible for us to engage in
our normal, peaceful counter-display at this display. We only hope that
steps will be taken to make negotiations more transparent and to actually
involve us in the decision-making process in the future.