Thanks Pete. The Dean agreed with me that them being campus was disrespectful, considering their stance on higher education. I even tried the "as a student I'm uncomfortable with them" thinking that maybe a paying student's needs should take precedence over a soliciting religious group, but turns out that not even that works. Free speech is free speech. And I shall have my fair share if they keep peddling their propaganda on my campus.
Sarabethy
JoinedPosts by Sarabethy
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34
JWs on campus
by Sarabethy init's my first time on this site though i am no stranger in the ex-jw community.
i come to you now asking for your assistance in what to present to the dean of students at my university.. why am i meeting with dean of students, you may ask?
because today, while innocently finishing an assignment in the school library, i happened to look out the window and see the jws with their stupid little cart.
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34
JWs on campus
by Sarabethy init's my first time on this site though i am no stranger in the ex-jw community.
i come to you now asking for your assistance in what to present to the dean of students at my university.. why am i meeting with dean of students, you may ask?
because today, while innocently finishing an assignment in the school library, i happened to look out the window and see the jws with their stupid little cart.
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Sarabethy
Alas, free speech wins out. Turns out that in America, each campus has a spot designed for free speech. Anyone can speak in these areas, even hate groups, as long as they don't incite violence. As the Dean pointed out, the university doesn't necessarily support what any group might be promoting. But from something negative (such as the JW message) something good can come about. He actually put a nice spin on the situation. He says because of the JWs presence on campus, I came to talk to him, and he previously knew nothing about the JWs. He found my paper on insular groups and stunted development to be eye-opening and he encourages me to continue talking to others about my JW experience. I would say (in JW jargon) that a good witness was given.
In fact, "a good witness" was given several times yesterday, when several students saw me talking with the JWs and asked me later on what was going on. If I ever see them with their cart on campus again, I plan to make a spot beside them and share information with anyone walking by. I like the suggestions given on here, to record any exchanges with the JWs. They hate that kind of stuff. I will not make it easy for them, just as they have not made it easy for me for a good chunk of my life.
I appreciate all the comments on here. I'll keep you posted as to any more encounters. And jp1692, thank you for posting those links. I still have a lot of psychological stuff to work through.
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34
JWs on campus
by Sarabethy init's my first time on this site though i am no stranger in the ex-jw community.
i come to you now asking for your assistance in what to present to the dean of students at my university.. why am i meeting with dean of students, you may ask?
because today, while innocently finishing an assignment in the school library, i happened to look out the window and see the jws with their stupid little cart.
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Sarabethy
All good points. Thank you everyone for your input. I'm meeting with the Dean in half an hour and have a psychology paper I wrote last semester on how JWs stunt development in children, and I also have the JW Facts page on JWs and higher education. Free speech is a tough thing to question, but yes, it is ironic that JWs fight to uphold the First Amendment when it comes to proselytizing, yet free speech is hindered in the organization.
I'll let you know how the meeting goes.
And yes, bears have been seen on campus. They are everywhere in Juneau. (The black ones aren't so scary though).
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34
JWs on campus
by Sarabethy init's my first time on this site though i am no stranger in the ex-jw community.
i come to you now asking for your assistance in what to present to the dean of students at my university.. why am i meeting with dean of students, you may ask?
because today, while innocently finishing an assignment in the school library, i happened to look out the window and see the jws with their stupid little cart.
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Sarabethy
Hi all,
It's my first time on this site though I am no stranger in the ex-JW community. I come to you now asking for your assistance in what to present to the Dean of students at my university.
Why am I meeting with Dean of Students, you may ask? Because today, while innocently finishing an assignment in the school library, I happened to look out the window and see the JWs with their stupid little cart. I live in Juneau, Alaska which has a population of something like 30,000 people. The university, UAS, is small, probably something on the scale of a community college. So the JWs and their cart really stood out.
I'm not exactly an ex-JW activist, though I have done my part to "unwitness." Mainly because Juneau is so small, and the congregation of JWs must be miniscule, I've never run into any of them before. .So this was somewhat of a shock, to have them on what I consider my territory.
A little bit about me: Born and raised JW. Believed it 100%, pioneered, planned on going to Gilead and becoming a missionary. Left at the age of 23 because something was so incredibly off about the religion. Did my research about 13 years ago but waited another 8 years to properly disassociate myself. Anyway, I am now 40 and have gone back to school to study environmental science. It's not only something I'm passionate about, but a great way to say F*** You to the JWs and to my past, in that I was denied a college education and critical thinking for a good portion of my life. So now you might understand why a great rolling wave of emotion came over me when I saw them out the window.
I was on my way to class, but had 15 minutes to kill, so I went to talk to them--confront them really. I was shaking as I made my way down the library stairs. Does anyone else experience this kind of shaking when you approach JWs? I don't know why my body takes over like this, because I'm the kind of person who's not afraid to talk to anyone. My body was having a physical reaction, even though my thoughts were crystal clear. I approached them and asked if they had permission to be on campus. They did, they replied. I asked who gave them permission because I was going to make a complaint. I then asked them if they thought it was ironic that they were on a university campus when they discourage higher education. They denied that, of course. And then that led to the greatest 15 tirade against the JWs that I've ever had.
It was glorious, in that I could openly question and accuse JWs, and all the while they had to stand there and listen as they couldn't turn and leave. The smiles were plastered on their faces, denying things left and right, but I'm like "I'm embarrassed for you. I know more about the organization than you do." They were their 50s or 60s, had been JWs all their lives, and looked like an elder and his wife. They seemed genuinely nice, but their denial was disgusting. Especially when it came to the issue covering up sexual abuse in the organization, and families shunning dissociated members.
Anyway, I've set up a meeting with the Dean of Students tomorrow morning to issue my complaint about the JWs being allowed to set up shop on campus. I know that there's free speech and all that, but I would still like to present some things to Dean to at least make him aware of who's giving propaganda out to the students.
Anyone have any luck getting JWs kicked off of premises? Any talking points you think I should bring up? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Sarabethy