Two Students urge UAB administration to #Kickthemout

Rees and Speake both initially held the banner in front of the Campbell Hall Building at 4:34 p.m. then later moved to the inside and hung the banner from the second floor and stayed there until 5:02 p.m.. Photo by Sufia Alam, Editor in Chief.

Sufia Alam

Editor in Chief

sufia@uab.edu





Addison Rees, junior in English, and Alice Speake, currently not an enrolled student, displayed a banner in Campbell Hall and Hill Student Center reading, “Do You Want Nazis with PhDs.” The banner also said, “Expel White Supremacy from Campbell Hall!” along with the hashtag, #KickThemOut.

Rees and Speake both initially held the banner in front of the Campbell Hall Building at 4:34 p.m. then later moved to the inside and hung the banner from the second floor and stayed there until 5:02 p.m..

Rees and Speake both initially held the banner in front of the Campbell Hall Building at 4:34 p.m then movied to inside the building at 5:02 p.m..

At 5:15 p.m. both entered the Hill Student Center where they hung the banner from the second floor giving all students seated in the first floor of the cafeteria area a full view of the banner.

After approximately five minutes, the Hill Student Center staff informed Rees and Speake if they do not take down the banner, they will need to notify the UAB Police Department on grounds for causing disruption.

Both started chanting, “kick them out.” By 5:25 p.m., the UAB Police Department arrived and confiscated the banner and took a picture of Rees’s One Card and Speake’s driver’s license.

When Rees asked why his banner was being taken away, he was told that both him and Speake were being disruptive. By 5:40 p.m., both Reese and Speake exited the building and said they were done for today.

According to the UAB Policies & Procedures Library, protests and other events are required to be scheduled with the university beforehand.

“Students interested in organizing a demonstration are encouraged to work with Student Affairs staff who can walk them through the process that identifies appropriate time, place and manner consistent with UAB policies and codes,” John Jones UAB Vice President of Student Affairs said when asked for a statement regarding the UAB Police Department confiscating Rees’s and Speake’s banner. “In addition, I hope any student with a concern or issue will come and talk to me and our Student Affairs team so we can have a helpful dialogue."

The reaction of UAB Police is exactly what Reese expected, according to him.

“I think this shows that the true function of the police on campus,” Reese said. “[This shows] having armed police on campus is not to protect students from actual potential threats, but to maintain the status quo and keep the university making money and keep things running smoothly.”

Both students are responding to UAB’s decision to not publicly reprimand Jeffery Morris, assistant professor in the UAB Biology Department on his views of 'civic nationalism,' and Michael Williams, Ph.D. candidate and biology teaching assistant views on nationalism.

Other students who were at HSC, don’t completely agree with Rees’s and Speake’s methods.

“I think in the moment the one thing I was worried about was the kids sitting right here,” said Chandler Flanagan, junior in Biomedical Sciences. “They seemed a little scared because they didn’t know what was going on. At the same time they were causing a ruckus in this area and everyone was startled. I’m still thinking through it because it’s just so early.”

Yet, Rees’s and Speake’s action have impacted students.

“When they first were talking I was like wow, they’re loud and disruptive,” said Jabriana Jemison, sophomore in biology. “Then I read their sign. You can’t really stop anybody from having any beliefs they want. You can have your beliefs just as long as it’s not impeding another person.”

According to Rees and Speake, both are presenting the banner to raise student awareness and urge UAB administration to take more action.

“Being as it's the first day of school, we want to remind them that like we didn’t all forget over the summer,” Rees said. “These things that happened last semester are still very fresh in our minds. We're still very angry about them and more is going to be happening.”