By Theresa Felder
Managing Editor
Approximately one month after it announced its plans to demonstrate at this university, the Westboro Baptist Church postponed its visit indefinitely.
A church official informed Lt. Bailey Howard of the Winston-Salem Police Department last week that the group is "delaying" its visit, and he gave no indication of when or if its demonstration would occur, said Ken Zick, the vice president for student life and instructional resources.
Although the church never officially contacted the university about its planned demonstration, administrators had been informed that group members had purchased plane tickets, Zick said.
Church members had also spoken with Winston-Salem police in order to inquire about applying for a parade permit, which is required for group wanting to congregate on public sidewalks or other such areas, University Police Chief Regina Lawson said. Applying for this permit is common practice in many cities, she said.
The Westboro Baptists show up for approximately 40 percent of the demonstrations they say they will stage, Zick said. "This is a group that likes to play cat-and-mouse games," he said.
The group has already affected the community through the information and opinions on its Web site, Zick said, and instead of expanding the influence of groups such as this the community should ignore them. "In this age of technological communication, these groups have grown," he said. "They can disrupt a community without making a personal visit."
If the Westboro Baptists had come, they probably would not abide by the permit regulations the university placed on them, because the time-date-place regulations would be very restrictive, Zick said.
Their goal is to "enrage people to the point of response" and it is more important to respond with positive actions and re-evaluate our own prejudices, he said.
Along similar reasoning, organizers of the Oct. 29 vigil, "Unite for Peace," say they are continuing with their plans because the event is not directly related to the Westboro Church's actions. "This is not a reaction to Fred Phelps. It's because he reminded us that hatred exists," said sophomore Martin Price, a co-chariman of the Student Government steering committee for "Unite for Peace." The rally is intended instead to bring together separate parts of the community and unite people who might not otherwise join together.
"We're just standing together ... trying to build a community based on respect for human dignity," Price said. Information about the church's mission and activities has sparked healthy discussion on this campus, he said, and he hopes it will not disappear
As a gay student, Price has mixed feelings about the possibility that the group will not come. "For me, Westboro Baptist Church was going to be a visual representation ... of the hatred and abuse I face every day," he said.
Without such blatant displays of hatred before them, students might dismiss the bigotry homosexuals meet continually, Price said.
"It's easy to dismiss people who say, `I face hatred,' when other people can't see it," he said.
Zick said that the messages this group sends and the ones that oppose them are some of the functions of free speech.
"These groups test our tolerance," Zick said. "We have an obligation to be tolerant; we also have an obligation to speak out against them."
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