Vol 126 no 39 october 12, 2016

Volume 126, No. 39

OPINION

SPORTS

PAGE 5

PAGE 8

CampusView: CSU on Trump

Wednesday October 12, 2016

Gian Clavell returns

Free speech on the plaza

Students agitated by controversial cardboard wall The “Free Speech” Wall on the CSU Plaza. PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS-MAY COLLEGIAN

By Stuart Smith @notstuartsmith

A “free speech wall” was built out of recycled cardboard boxes in the plaza by Colorado State University students who support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump around noon on Tuesday. Various amounts of students filtered in and out of the area, but in general there were around eight or nine Trump supporters and fifteen students who were

unhappy about the wall. By the end of the demonstration, there were around 75 people around the wall. Even though the builders of the wall are supporters of Trump, they said that the wall was for everyone to express themselves. “It’s just a free speech demonstration,” said Juan Caro, an organizer of the demonstration.”The Democrats have a presence on campus every day... They have a Trump piñata... They’re hitting a presidential

candidate with a stick. It’s free speech... they have the right to do that.” The first boxes of the wall had pro-Trump writing on them, but almost immediately a Clinton supporter hung a sign on the wall saying “Love Trumps Hate.” At one point, a woman wrote on the wall, “your fame is not an excuse to grab my pussy.” Another woman wrote, “don’t grab my pussy.” In response, Emily Faulkner, one of the builders of the wall

wrote, “Bill Clinton is a rapist.” Caro said that the purpose of the demonstration was to express conservative student’s right to free speech on the plaza. “We should have a free speech demonstration, so we had one for Trump,” Caro said. “We were bothered by the Trump piñata, but we do understand it is their first amendment right, and we thought we would just exercise our first amendment right.” Despite this, many students were agitated by the wall and

that it was put up by supporters of Trump. Erica Lafehr, a third year Sociology and Ethnic Studies major, began a debate with the Trump supporters who were there, going through a slew of talking points about racism and immigration. “White people don’t want to do the labor that is done by undocumented immigrants,” Lafehr said. “Do you want to go pick strawberries out in California in see WALL on page 4 >>