UCF suspends campus rules to aid Planned Parenthood’s Slut Walk

Campus

Published on March 26th, 2012 | by Hypeline Staff

College Democrats at the University of Central Florida (UCF) teamed up with Planned Parenthood last week to host ‘SlutWalk.’ The event started as an rally in Toronto and is now a global movement, protesting against rape justification and victim blaming through re appropriating the word ‘slut.’

Participants could be heard chanting “Feminists unite! Take back the night!”

UCF’s SlutWalk was held on the South Patio of the UCF Student Union on Thursday, March 19. This area of campus is exclusively for use of registered student groups. Because Planned Parenthood is not a registered student organization, other non-profit organizations which visit the UCF campus feel as though Planned Parenthood has received special treatment.

“I am restricted to the free speech zone which has considerably less traffic,” said Caitlin Butler, a Field Coordinator with Turning Point USA. She continued, “This is a clear example of liberal bias on campus at UCF.”

Note: the free speech zones are the green dots marked on this campus map.

To further Butler’s claims, Turning Point USA asked UCF for permission to do an event with the College Republicans which would have similar logistics. The university, however, responded back with a set of rules that indicated such an event is not allowed.

Original email request:

UCF’s Response:

The UCF Student Union Event Services Policies clearly state, “Organizations and Departments are not permitted to reserve a patio space to be used to promote a third party (Vendor, Business, Politician, etc.) Attempting to circumvent Market Day policies could result in the cancellation of future reservations.”

Market Day is a special program where each Wednesday, non-registered student organizations can pay upwards to $200 in order to be a vendor. However, because the SlutWalk took place on Thursday, Planned Parenthood’s operations should never have been located in the South Patio.

UCF policies also clearly state that each group at the South Patio is allowed one table and two chairs. Therefore, there is no way that Planned Parenthood was using the College Democrat’s reserved table and chairs, as there were two tables and many chairs for the SlutWalk.

Tags: activism, bias, Planned Parenthood