On Oct. 26, two older men arrived to the Commonwealth University – Lock Haven campus and set up in front of Bentley Dining Hall to “preach the word of God” and “encourage people to repent for their sins.” The most prominent of the two men is Pastor Aden Rusfeldt, who has been the center of some legal issues surrounding his public speaking in the past. Rusfeldt recently appeared on campus, by himself, a week prior on Oct. 18.
Some of Rusfeldt and his accomplice’s statements that received a lot of outrage from the students were:
“If you don’t obey Jesus, make no mistake–you’re not a Christian. You’re just a church-goer or someone that says they like God, but lives like the devil.”
“Everything you do at night, you click click click on the phone all night, watching porno, God sees it, and God’s writing it down, and when you die God will bring it up and it will condemn you, so repent of it.”
“The Bible says women ought to be silent! You women need to know your place! Women submit to your husbands! You need to submit to your husbands!”
“I’m not the one not accepting people for who they are. Don’t you know I’m a Christian man, and you girls are hurting my feelings? I thought god accepted everybody, but you guys won’t accept me? Why would you homosexuals not accept me for who I am? God made me a street preacher! God made me a homo-yelling street preacher!”
Students gathered around these speakers, protesting against their statements that contained misogynistic, homophobic, and degrading statements to those on campus. There was also a heavy campus police and staff presence to prevent these verbal arguments from escalating into a physical altercation.
Amongst those who are fighting against the words of Rusfeldt and his accomplice are students who not only vehemently disagree with their statements, but find a source of humor in the situation.
“This is honestly really funny that he thinks that this is going to change any college student’s minds,” said Oliver Givens, a sophomore computer science major. “The fact that all of us are just having a hoot and a holler out of this and not one single person agrees with him is amazing.”
The presence of Rusfeldt and his impact on the campus community has permeated onto the social media platform, YikYak. As a platform that allows college students to post anonymously within their campus community, students feel safe in speaking on campus issues such as this, even providing warnings that these speakers are setting up.
Some students on YikYak are expressing their fear of these men, with one student posting:
“i’m scared to go to bentley because i’m wearing a shirt that shows cleavage and the christian protester is here”
Others are putting an emphasis on how their teachings are not in line with the views of all Christians, with this post amassing 111 upvotes:
“i just want everyone to know, as a christian, These people aren’t of god. Gay, Straight, Trans, Cis, virgin or not, black white, anything. Jesus loves you. you don’t need to change these things to be a christian or to be loved by god. Jesus loves you”
Students often wonder why speakers who attempt to cause trouble aren’t able to be kicked off of campus, as they recognize that their actions are leading to disturbances within the campus community. To help answer these questions, staff were actively handing out papers that detailed why.
“It’s a first amendment, freedom of speech issue. They’re on a public sidewalk so at the end of the day, as long as they’re not breaking the law, then there is no reason that they would not be here,” said Kenny Hall, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “Even though we may disagree with what they’re saying, it’s not illegal to have that sentiment because speech is not illegal. As much as Commonwealth University – Lock Haven may not agree with the stance that they have, by any stretch of the imagination, they have the legal right to express themselves so long as they don’t break the law.”
For some students, they are concerned about the impact that these statements will have on their peers, especially those who are the target of a lot of their comments.
“For many young women who are very impressionable, are easily tangible through these ideas, and for women, we need to stick together and educate each other to protect ourselves from this type of belief system,” said sophomore social work major, Sophia Childs. “We need to allow women to have the bodily autonomy, the free decisions, and the free speech that they deserve for the centuries that we have been ignored and dictated by misogyny.”
Staff also handed out papers that detailed resources for students on campus who may be affected by the statements and actions of these events on campus.
In response to the events on campus, as well as globally, Student Government is holding a peace rally Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m.
