VCU students speak out against evangelical preachers on campus

Andrew Kerley, Audience Editor 

Sarah Hagen, Contributing Writer

Groups of evangelists have been preaching to students around VCU’s Monroe Park campus for multiple years, according to Ky-Long Nguyen, a VCU senior and information systems student.

“Frankly, no students agree with their thoughts. What they have been doing has been a waste of time. I recommend they stand down and educate themselves on what we young people really believe in,” Nguyen said. 

Students formed a spontaneous protest in opposition to a group of evangelists preaching outside of the James Branch Cabell Library on Feb. 8. 

The crowd was formed after Paul Adams and another man, both members of the local Grace Bible Church, stood outside of the library holding up a sign that read “Are you going to heaven? Free test.”

“When a friend of mine sent me a photo on social media to tell me that the preachers were back, I grabbed a notebook and sharpie, got in my car and drove to the library,” Nguyen said. “I scribbled up a sign and held it in an attempt to drown out the religious evangelizing. A few other individuals with the same idea joined me.”

Students gathered over the course of the afternoon to yell over the preachers, hold up signs, argue, drown them out with music, dance, show public displays of affection and hand out food to each other, according to Nguyen. 

“They usually preach anything along the lines of misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism or anti-abortion rhetoric,” Nguyen said. “However, they shroud their beliefs in religious texts, using them as an excuse for hate speech.”

Many students have tried to have a conversation with the evangelists, according to Nguyen.

“Their minds cannot be persuaded,” Nguyen said. “The idea of actively talking or arguing with them is futile. That’s why I resort to making humorous signs with my notebook, because I’d rather do something that would draw attention and make others smile and laugh.”

Oliver Harmon, a member of Triangle Club at VCU, said evangelists are causing harm to students that are just trying to get to their classes.

Triangle Club is an organization that seeks to allow students and staff at VCU who are interested in fighting against health disparity, promoting social and political education and socializing within the queer community, according to its page.

“They are very persistent sometimes,” Harmon said. “The first few times I was approached I had to physically walk out of the area be like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to talk to you.’ I want to treat them with respect, and they should [treat me with respect] as well.”

One group of evangelists regularly stands in VCU’s Compass — the area between the James Branch Cabell Library and the Shafer Court Dining Center — shouting at students using a megaphone and holding up a sign listing groups of people that are “going to hell.” 

“I have a hard time differentiating them,” Harmon said. “I hear there’s at least one evangelist that’s more civil and polite. Apparently there’s one guy that stands at a corner and tries to argue with science.”

Some evangelists will follow students around VCU’s Compass area and ask them about their beliefs, according to Harmon.

“It feels intimidating as I am both gay and transgender,” Harmon said. “I used to be Christian, growing up inside the church before coming out. I have so much religious trauma. Being randomly approached in the first place is terrifying because you never know what people might say or do.” 

Some of Harmon’s friends avoid VCU’s Compass area entirely because of evangelists, according to Harmon.

“We are here to preach the gospel, that God forgives sinners, and that if they repent and put their faith in Christ, they can be saved,” Adams said.

Grace Bible Church evangelists do not come to VCU and preach with the intention of bringing up homosexuality, Adams said.

“We’ve all sinned, I had to repent for premarital sex, for example,” Adams said. “But the students always want to bring up homosexuality. Our purpose is just to preach the general gospel, but those issues [homosexuality] separate people from God. We have to address it so as to not stay away from the truth.”

Students have been told that homosexuality is OK, but the Bible states otherwise, according to Adams.

“The students are not complacent on the subject of God,” Adams said. “I would say that this is a form of intolerance that’s been bred into our society. It is coming from the universities, the media, politics, a lot of different levels in our society.”

Grace Bible Church loves and cares about the students, Adams said.

“It would be easier for us to stay at home and not come here and not have these kinds of things happen [protests],” Adams said. “However, I would like to have a discussion with people, rather than just everyone shouting all the time. Jesus Christ told us to go out into the world and make disciples of every nation.”

VCU has been friendly to Grace Bible Church and more accepting of having their evangelists on campus in recent years, according to Jack Dove, Grace Bible Church’s coordinator of VCU’s evangelistic outreach. The police are “kind, helpful and professional,” according to Dove.

The preachers have a right to be on campus because of freedom of speech, but the VCU’s Reservation and Use of Space policy is advertised on campus by Shafer Court Dining Center, and the Quick Response code leads to an FAQ by the Dean of Students office. The policy was approved in 2017 but the signs were put up recently.

“That sign was recently placed after we were able to determine how best to communicate the policy,” stated VCU’s Dean of Student Affairs Reuban Rodriguez. 

The policy details what university property can be used for by VCU staff, students and outside parties. Most of the prohibitions relate to interruption of daily life and obstruction of university buildings and services. The policy also states that the university prohibits expression that is not protected by law, which includes defamation, obscenity and criminal or civil harassment. 

Rodriguez said if a student feels unsafe for any reason on campus, they can call his office, the student commons or VCU PD’s emergency number.