OSU Law Student Threatened for Pro-life Beliefs
Ohio Right to Life Seeks Meeting with School Administration
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Miss Ohio and OSU Moritz College of Law student Madison Gesiotto recently published an opinion piece for The Washington Times (where she is a regular contributor) in which she shared the statistics showing the disproportionate amount of African-American babies killed by abortion. In response to her column, she received threats on social media and was criticized by the deans of the law school for her opinion. In a meeting that was supposed to address the threats, she was instead lectured by administration officials on how her views are not acceptable considering her position as staff editor of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.
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The Black Law Students Association at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law also wrote a Letter to the Editor in the OSU campus newspaper "taking offense for the racial overtones" contained in her article.
Where are no 'safe zones' for pro-lifers on university campuses these days? Apparently those zones only exist if you hold a politically correct viewpoints. There is only one first amendment and popular speech needs no protection and it was designed to protect non-politically correct speech.
Ohio Right to Life delivered a letter to The Ohio State University, requesting a meeting with the president, Michael Drake, and the Dean of Moritz College of Law, Alan Michaels. Upon receiving the threat, Ms. Gesiotto requested a meeting with Michaels. Ms. Gesiotto reports that the focus of the meeting was on the content of her work rather than the threat made against her.
"Any threats made to students should be taken seriously, not callously tossed aside," said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. "It's alarming not only that Madison is being treated as an outcast by her peers, but also by some of her school's administration. In an age when academia boasts 'inclusion' and 'diversity,' the school's admonishment of Madison's beliefs rather than of those who seek to exclude her is hypocritical and perilous to the practice of First Amendment rights on campus."
The goal of Ohio Right to Life's letter to President Drake and Dean Michaels is to arrange a meeting to discuss how students' rights can be secured on campus. According to Ms. Gesiotto, Dean Michaels and two other deans met with her in October, not to discuss the threat made against her, but to address the following:
Ms. Gesiotto deserves an apology from Dean Michaels and a guarantee that she can exercise her first amendment right without intimidation. Our universities need to be a place where speech of all kinds is encouraged and students are not bullied by administrators. These recent events should concern every parent and every OSU student who wants an education that fosters diversity in belief.
Where are no 'safe zones' for pro-lifers on university campuses these days? Apparently those zones only exist if you hold a politically correct viewpoints. There is only one first amendment and popular speech needs no protection and it was designed to protect non-politically correct speech.
Ohio Right to Life delivered a letter to The Ohio State University, requesting a meeting with the president, Michael Drake, and the Dean of Moritz College of Law, Alan Michaels. Upon receiving the threat, Ms. Gesiotto requested a meeting with Michaels. Ms. Gesiotto reports that the focus of the meeting was on the content of her work rather than the threat made against her.
"Any threats made to students should be taken seriously, not callously tossed aside," said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. "It's alarming not only that Madison is being treated as an outcast by her peers, but also by some of her school's administration. In an age when academia boasts 'inclusion' and 'diversity,' the school's admonishment of Madison's beliefs rather than of those who seek to exclude her is hypocritical and perilous to the practice of First Amendment rights on campus."
The goal of Ohio Right to Life's letter to President Drake and Dean Michaels is to arrange a meeting to discuss how students' rights can be secured on campus. According to Ms. Gesiotto, Dean Michaels and two other deans met with her in October, not to discuss the threat made against her, but to address the following:
- To critique the content of her article on the disparity in abortions among African Americans
- To recommend she remove from her online biography her position as a staff editor of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law
- To urge Ms. Gesiotto to participate in a “facilitated discussion” with those opposing her work
Ms. Gesiotto deserves an apology from Dean Michaels and a guarantee that she can exercise her first amendment right without intimidation. Our universities need to be a place where speech of all kinds is encouraged and students are not bullied by administrators. These recent events should concern every parent and every OSU student who wants an education that fosters diversity in belief.
