Preacher protested: SIUE Students say preacher’s sermons make campus feel unsafe SIUE students say sermons make campus feel unsafe

Preacher Tom Rayborn talks to SIUE students on Nov. 20 during his weekly sermon on the Quad. Students have said that Rayborn’s preaching makes campus feel unsafe, while university officials have said that his speech is protected by the First Amendment. less Preacher Tom Rayborn talks to SIUE students on Nov. 20 during his weekly sermon on the Quad. Students have said that Rayborn’s preaching makes campus feel unsafe, while university officials have said that his ... more Photo: Scott Marion|The Intelligencer Photo: Scott Marion|The Intelligencer Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Preacher protested: SIUE Students say preacher’s sermons make campus feel unsafe 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

EDWARDSVILLE — When does free speech cross the line into hate speech, and when does hate speech cross the line into harassment? That is the dilemma the administration of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) face after student and faculty continue to protest a man who has been coming to the Stratton Quadrangle on campus for more than six years to preach to students.

While Tom Rayborn, the church planting pastor at Redeeming Grace Church in Alton, says his mission is to preach the gospel, discuss religious issues and distribute religious material, some students feel his message crosses the boundaries of free speech and First Amendment rights and ventures into the realm of threats and intimidation.

Since October, they have been protesting on the quad every Wednesday when Rayborn delivers his weekly sermons, calling for the university to rescind his permit to speak on campus.

The protests resulted in a town hall meeting on campus on Nov. 15, where students and faculty members were able to meet with SIUE administration and discuss their issues about Rayborn.

“This got started from realizing that there were a lot of students on campus who didn’t feel safe out on the quad on Wednesdays or like they were accepted because of everything that was being said,” said Kimberly Hickman, a third-year anthropology student from Edwardsville who was a co-organizer of the protests. “We’re putting people out here to show that you’re not alone. We don’t think it’s good either and maybe we can get something to happen from it.

“I think the town hall meeting had a good effect. It was good to get ideas out there about what we can and cannot do on campus. Just not allowing outside speakers on campus would be against the First Amendment but allowing amplification and megaphones only for school-related activities would be a great way to work around this issue,” she added.

Student protestors emphasize their complaint about Rayborn is not about religion in general, but rather Rayborn’s brand of religion.

“The administration wants solid evidence for the fact that he is crossing into the boundaries of legal harassment, which is not protected by the First Amendment,” Hickman said. “The administration feels that he is targeting groups while harassment is targeting individuals, but he will call out to individuals who are walking by, such as Muslims, and say that Muhammad is a false prophet and that their religion is demonic and an abomination to the world.

“Stuff like that is what we’re trying to show to the administration to at least get our point across easier. From what I understand in talking to administration, this may be the first time that a protest has gotten this kind of traction. Hopefully it won’t just be more of the same, with students getting upset and nothing happening.”

In dealing with the Rayborn situation, SIUE’s administration realizes it is walking a fine line between free speech and student rights.

“It’s that intersection of First Amendment rights and free speech and people being able to say things as long as they don’t qualify in certain ways as harassment,” SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook said. “As long as they stay within the boundaries of free speech on a public campus, people can come and speak.

“On the other side of it is that we want our students to feel secure and feel like it is a safe environment. Last Friday (Nov. 15) we had a two-hour discussion with about 125 people about how we find that area where people can speak and if you don’t agree with what is being said, you still feel safe. That discussion will continue on our campus.”

While the Gay-Straight Alliance and the Philosophy Club both circulated petitions calling for Rayborn’s removal from campus, the protests have drawn many other students and faculty members.

An Oct. 16 demonstration that was intended as a silent counter-protest ended in heated fashion, with people from both sides yelling at one another and becoming aggressive.

For the most part, though, the protests have been peaceful, with students holding signs with messages such as “Hate Has No Home Here” and “Administration is Listening – Let’s Keep Talking.”

“Other religious groups come to campus and everyone but him has been really nice,” said Rin Hubbard, a junior majoring in media production. “Even when they hand out Bibles and you say, ‘no thank you,’ they say, ‘thank you for your time and have a good day.’ No one tries to get in your face.

“Tom has stopped students from going to class and he’s very aggressive in handing out his pamphlets. He wears a body camera, which is another concern. He records every interaction and sometimes he’ll post them on his YouTube channel,” she added.

Hubbard, who is originally from St. Louis and now lives in Bethalto, has deep roots in the Metro East. She is a third-generation SIUE student, as well as third generation at Lewis and Clark Community College and fourth generation at Roxana High School.

Once Hubbard arrived at SIUE as a student, it didn’t long for her to learn about Rayborn’s weekly sermons and the controversy they have generated.

“One of the protestors filed a petition and that’s how we found out from alumni that he has been coming here and preaching for more than six years,” Hubbard said. “I am religious myself – I’m Catholic – and I don’t mind street preachers and I think it’s good they want to do that. But Tom has been using his platform to shame and bully people.

“I love this school very much and I love being another person from my family to go here, but it’s hard to have pride when you don’t feel safe. Other people will say just to ignore him, but it’s hard to ignore him when he’s using amplification and specifically calling you out by various vile names,” she added.

Hubbard listed several other examples of alleged harassment by Rayborn.

“Just last week, he stalked one of the protestors to find when her birthday was so he could get her a birthday card,” Hubbard said. “The first big incident I heard about was last semester when he found out a couple women were in a relationship and they kissed on their way to the quad. He and his group tried to put their hands on them.

“There was a student who had mentioned she was Catholic, and he is non-denominational, and he said, ‘you’re not the right kind of Christian, so you’re going to hell.’ He has said similar things to Muslim students. It’s crazy to think a school that is so diverse and teaches inclusion, that this man is allowed on campus,” she added.

Rayborn’s appearance at SIUE on Nov. 20 was a three-sided affair.

In addition to Rayborn preaching from in front of the Rock at the Quad with the aid of a headset microphone and speakers, a group of sign-carrying students quietly protested his message.

The third component was Jennifer Hernandez, a professor from the SIUE School of Education, using a megaphone and constantly repeating six words – “Your Hate is Not Welcome Here” – every time Rayborn spoke to the crowd.

“I just want to make sure that his hate speech isn’t heard, which is why we use the megaphone. I don’t have a message other than that,” said Hernandez, who was accompanied by Jamie Binolis, a student from the education department. “Tom called one of the students a ‘trans devil’ and that Jesus hated them, and they would burn in hell. Then there were flyers all over campus about transgender people and how they were evil and suffered from mental illness.

“We’re trying to get the administration not to give Tom and his group a permit to speak here. This is not protected speech, this is hate speech. It’s a very narrow-minded view of Christianity and he is verbally assaulting students on campus,” she said.

While Hernandez’s megaphone was louder than Rayborn’s sound system and at least partially drowned him out, the student protestors regard it as a distraction.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve had someone with a megaphone out here to steal the spotlight of the protests,” Hickman said. “It’s always been a point of discussion that the pastor on campus uses an amplifier, which means that students who are sensitive to what he is saying or have incidents in the past can’t escape it.”

“The megaphones are not ideal,” Hubbard added. “They drown Tom out and though we don’t want him here, we still want people to be able to hear him and make their own judgment. We have signs out here to say, ‘don’t listen to the people with the megaphones.’ The administration is listening, and we want people to join us in talking with them.”

At the center of the storm is Rayborn, who sees himself as a man on a mission to save souls.

“I try to bring God glory by bringing Christ to this campus,” said Rayborn, who has been coming to the school for six and a half years. “My desire is to see people come to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of their sins and receive eternal life, to escape the wrath of God that will one day to all who died in their sins in God’s hell.

“Picture this campus and realize that every student here is in one of two spiritual conditions. They are either in Christ or they are in sin, so they are either lost or saved. The students that are without Christ are right now what the Bible says are on the broad path that leads to destruction. If they continue, they will die in their sins before Jesus Christ for judgment. They will be judged for every sin and the Bible says they will be cast into the eternal lake of fire,” he said.

For Rayborn, being challenged for his beliefs is an unavoidable part of his duty as a preacher.

“Presenting any kind of a case, whether it’s to save the whales or the environment or global warming, people are going to agree or disagree or remain neutral,” Rayborn said. “But people can’t remain neutral about Jesus – he said you either love me or hate me. You either come to me or you flee from me.

“I love these students and I don’t care what they say or do, the gestures they may give or the things they say,” he added. “That love helps me so much to be out here, no matter what goes on.”

Like Pembrook, SIUE Vice Chancellor for Administration Rich Walker says the university is trying to preserve Rayborn’s First Amendment rights while monitoring him to ensure that he doesn’t cross the line into harassment.

“The First Amendment protects speech no matter how offensive,” Walker said. “If we start censoring speech, we would also be depriving students their right to invite speech they want to hear, debate speech with which they disagree, and respectfully protest speech they find offensive.

“Personally, I think offensive speech is symptomatic of a bigger problem in our country. We must prepare students to combat this problem. Hearing and countering offensive speech is an important skill. We are obligated to teach that skill and create an environment that fosters tolerance and mutual respect among members of the campus community,” he said.

Earlier this semester, Walker and other administrators listened to Rayborn’s speed with legal counsel and the SIUE Police.

“We didn’t hear anything that qualified as a threat or hate speech,” Walker said. “True, we haven’t listened to 100 percent of all of his speeches so there may be content that we haven’t encountered. I’m just saying that based on listening to three hours of recordings and listening directly on site, we haven’t heard anything yet.”

Some students, though, claim that Rayborn tones down his rhetoric if the police are present, or if he is informed in advance that administrators will be listening to his sermons.

“I understand that college is a place where we come across differing opinions and I’m OK with that,” Hubbard said. “My thing is that (Rayborn) is meeting the definition for harassment, but we’re still just talking about policy changes.

“The policy definitely needs to be updated, and if this was a court of law, we would need to have evidence. We’ve been trying to gather evidence, but once the police or the administration get there (for Rayborn’s sermons) and he knows he’s being monitored, he’s not going to be as aggressive,” he said.

The students are also concerned about the potential for violence stemming from Rayborn’s rhetoric.

“A man from Collinsville showed up (on Oct. 16) with nunchucks (which are not a banned weapon on campus) and said he was there to fight the devil, and I think he was there because of Tom,” Hubbard said. “It’s crazy that Tom is meeting all these definitions for harassment and the administration doesn’t see what we see.”

Walker said such concerns are not lost on the administration, but it is mindful of Rayborn’s rights as well.

“It pains me whenever someone – a young person especially – is targeted with messages that don’t come from a place of caring or respect,” Walker said. “So many people get it wrong, and I am saddened when anyone feels somehow lessened because of someone else’s words. Still, we can be a stronger university because of a healthy dialogue. Unfortunately, not enough of that dialogue is happening yet. Last Friday’s (Nov. 15) town hall meeting was an important step in continuing that conversation.

“Please know that SIUE will take the necessary steps to ensure everyone’s safety, as the well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and guests is our primary concern,” he added.

The university has narrowed the physical space in which Rayborn speaks and lowered the volume at which he is allowed to speak.

“We’ve met with him numerous times about his rhetoric, and I have personally sat and listened to his remarks,” Walker said. “Also, we want students to feel safe. To that end, I’ve asked the police chief to have officers on site whenever the man is scheduled to speak.

“But unless he breaks the law, he is free to speak his opinions – far outside our own beliefs and values as they may be.”