Preachers did not need space request

                                                                                       Photo by Paul Ricciardi

By Jonathan McFadden

The street preachers who aroused a student protest on Byrnes’ front lawn Wednesday were not given a permit, said Frank Ardaiolo, vice president for student life.

Ardaiolo said the preachers asked to set up in the campus’ free speech zone, which in accordance with Winthrop’s assembly policy, allowed them to demonstrate at Byrnes without prior written approval.

The preachers originally set up in the concourse between the DiGiorgio Campus Center and West Center. They were moved to Byrnes when Ardaiolo personally informed them that the campus center area was not a space designated as a “free speech zone.”

The preachers said two students told them that the campus center was a free speech zone.

Ardaiolo said that he was not concerned with the impact of the preachers’ message.

He said students need to be exposed to all types of ideas and manners of expression to liberate them from pre-conceived biases in their own thinking and ideas.

This is one of the prime reasons for the existence of the ‘HMXP 102: Who Am I?’ course, Ardaiolo said.