ANDREA MCMILLIAN
The Corsair
PJC’s own free speech zone was once a lively place on campus. Though it doesn’t get much recognition now, the area is still available for use. It is located in the grassy, triangular area directly in front of the Student Center in building 5.
In the past, the free speech zone was nicknamed “the stump”, because of a large oak stump in the area that speakers used to stand on. Throughout the Vietnam War era, with much student attention focused on opposing the war, “the stump” was mostly used as an anti-war demonstration venue.
In the late 80s and early 90s, with lack of reason for protest, the speech zone’s main act became local street preachers. These colorful preachers, who returned nearly every Wednesday, often raised quite a ruckus on campus. They were well known for standing on the stump and yelling at the passing students.
“I remember hearing some crazy stuff walking by there,” recalls Andrew McMillian, who attended PJC during the late 80s. “Sometimes he would call students things like fornicators, drunks and devil-worshipers.” Because of their antics, these street preachers were nicknamed “stump thumpers.”
Over the years, the “stump thumpers” have cooled down quite a bit, and so has the free speech zone. The stump was removed in the late 90s due to natural decay, but the area is still designated as PJC’s free speech zone. Now, people often walk or drive by the free speech zone every day, unaware that it even exists.
“I didn’t even know that we had one of those,” said student Heather Parker. That seemed to be the case all over campus. “I was always told that we can’t protest, because we would be disrupting classes, it’s good to know that there is a designated area for that kind of thing” said another PJC student, Tyler Arnette.
Designated free speech zones on campuses no longer take on the role they once did, but some students think that there are plenty of reasons to use the zones now as people did in the 60s.
Rachel Klum, a PJC student, said, “We have issues too: global warming, war, economic debt… It’d be nice to see students coming together and using their own opinions to change the way that society works.”