NSU students counterprotest #They’reHumanToo traveling exhibition

Students+of+Northwestern+State+University+of+Louisiana+protest+against+a+pro-life+exhibition+on+Kyser+Brickway.

Kevin Thomas

Students of Northwestern State University of Louisiana protest against a pro-life exhibition on Kyser Brickway.

On March 31, 2022, murals were placed on Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s Kyser Brickway advocating for pro-life sentiments.

Alan Pasch, director of Student Union Life, said the organizer behind the exhibit, Kandace Landreneau, had filled out all the necessary paperwork and followed NSU’s policy on public speech. Even without the paperwork, Pasch explained that because the campus is state property organizers are permitted to exhibit anything.

Landreneau is a college director who has exhibited the display at previous universities, including Louisiana Tech University, Louisiana State University, Nicholls State University and Loyola University New Orleans.

According to the Louisiana Right to Life organization, the “#They’reHumanToo” traveling exhibition travels across college campuses in Louisiana to showcase pro-life through art.

At around 10 a.m. some students gathered to silently protest against the message by placing sticky notes on top of the exhibition.

The response was soon followed by the organizer taking down the sticky notes and a protest followed between students and Landreneu.

Two police officers were at the scene.

Taylor Moore, a freshman psychology major, felt that this should not have been allowed to be showcased.

“Why would you put something political about this?” Moore said.

Miranda Kelly, a freshman psychology major, said that Landreneau was talking in circles.

“I just felt like [she] came here to protest so people ask [her] about [her] opinion or cause and [she’s] not telling us,” Kelly said.

The protesters felt that their questions were not being answered.

“She says that the fetus is a life. I just feel like the fetus is not a life because it cannot exist outside the mother’s body and that’s what I think,” Jaliyah Austin, a freshman nursing major, said. “She came out here for the wrong reasons.”

Edit for clarity – 4/6

A paragraph explaining how Kandace Landreneau was permitted to be on Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s campus was added.