Students at Washington University in St Louis are organizing in protest of the University’s plans to honor notorious anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly with an honorary doctorate degree at the school’s commencement ceremony May 16. Students have set up a Facebook group protesting the decision titled No Honorary Doctorate for Anti-Feminist Phyllis Schlafly, which 1,219 people have joined since the University announced the plans last week.
Faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students, and community members met on Monday to begin plans for protesting the decision, raising student awareness of Schlafly’s extremist views, such as her claim that married women cannot be raped, and informing the community and media of dissatisfaction over the University’s decision, reports Student Life.
“The University has completely disregarded the concerns about anybody who cares about full and equal rights for women, who cares about the intellectual quality of feminist debate, and who cares about women’s desire to enter the work force,” said Mary Ann Dzuback, director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Washington University, reports Insider Higher Ed.
