A day of silence
Cathy Bayer and Nicole Milstead/Campus Reporters
Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: News
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The tape read, "faggot."
Four other members of Eastern's Pride chapter protested with Wilhelmsen, a sophomore marketing major, showing their support for the Day of Silence.
Wilhelmsen refused to speak, keeping up with the protest, but wrote a comment down on paper.
"We're having a silent protest showing how the words people use can be offensive and can kill and hurt those around you," Wilhelmsen wrote.
"We exhibit those dying," he added.
The other members of Pride had tape over their mouths that read "dyke," "queer," and "carpet muncher."
The Day of Silence is a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. It began in 1996 at the University of Virginia.
"We were not pretending to be dead, the duct tape represented those who feel they have to be silent everyday because of how society feels and their beliefs," said Brooke Buchanan, a junior 3-D studio design major, after the protest.
Students walked around the sidewalk on the grass, stepping around the protesters' still bodies.
The protesters occasionally gestured to each other, tapping on the sidewalk, deciding how to lay and sit.
Pride members decided to hold the demonstration to speak on behalf of those who can't speak, Wilhelmsen said after the protest, which ran from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The goal was to show the power of words, and how words can really hurt.
"We were dead, in terms," he said. "(The idea is to) make people either have to walk around us or over us - but at least they'll notice us."
Looking dead to passersby raised concerns for Wilhelmsen.
He was not sure if it was better for people to walk around them or over them, or if they were going to be kicked.
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