Not a whole lot really needs to be said about how “tolerant” government-run universities tend to be towards the pro-life position. Or at least not much should be surprising. It seems, however, that some university officials have decided to extend the benefit of their free thinking to those not even enrolled in the university – meaning you don’t have to be a student to get bullied by the professor anymore. The only qualification to elicit rage from the academic elite is, apparently, being pro-life.
Such was the experience of California teenager Thrin Short, a sixteen-year old high school student who was handing out pro-life literature with her older sister, Joan, during a legal campus event at the University of California in Santa Barbara.Thrin and her sister were participating in an outreach organized by Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, a Riverside non-profit pro-life group, and had handed out nearly 1,000 informational pamphlets on March 4 in the school’s “free speech zone” when Associate Professor Mireille Miller-Young came onto the scene.
Miller-Young teaches feminist studies at the university, so one would not expect much support, but apparently, one also can’t expect even to be safe. According to witnesses, Miller-Young approached the group of pro-life teens and students and began loudly mocking them, telling passersby that they ought to listen to the professor, on account of her three degrees, and not to Thrin, who was near the front of the group of students at the time.
Thrin was holding a sign communicating a pro-life message, and Miller-Young then began trying to lead other students in a chant about “tearing down” Thrin’s sign. When the chant died down, Miller-Young grabbed the sign from Thrin’s hands and gave it to other students as Thrin followed her, asking for her sign to be returned. Miller-Young continually refused, pushing the student at least three times, resulting in scratches on both of her wrists.
Much of the incident was captured on a cell phone video as Thrin’s sister phoned for campus police, a piece of evidence now under review by campus officials. Miller-Young is currently refusing to comment and referring all inquiries to her attorney, while the school has acknowledged the incident in an official statement, saying it is “being reviewed.”
Thrin Short has no intention of stopping involvement in pro-life causes, and she hopes Miller-Young will be prosecuted for the assault, to help prevent other acts of violence against pro-life demonstrators.
