After members of Northwestern’s Secular Humanists for Inquiry and FreeThought chalked stick-figure representations of the Prophet Muhammad on campus Sunday night, the campus community, including visiting students from NU’s Qatar Campus, reacted with both anger and support.
SHIFT members said they drew the figures to support freedom of expression, partly in response to an episode of South Park censored after the show’s creators received death threats for drawing Muhammad in a bear suit.
University Chaplain Timothy Stevens said he attended SHIFT’s internal meeting Sunday, when the group decided to go ahead with the plan to chalk Muhammad’s image on campus.
Stevens said he did not speak at the meeting but was interested in the group’s reasoning for chalking the images. Muslim students on campus had nothing to do with an episode of South Park, he said.
“I was hoping for a different outcome,” Stevens said. “They have valid concerns about free speech…. I was wondering if there would be other ways to make a point about free speech that would be less confrontational toward Muslim students on the campus.”
In a meeting with The DAILY, members of SHIFT’s executive board said Monday the drawings were aimed at the entire community and not directed at the Muslim community. Without the drawings, members said students would not be interested in participating in a campus discussion.
Some of the group’s drawings were altered Monday. One near The Arch was covered in water Monday morning, and the word “Muhammad” was rubbed out on others. SHIFT members told The Daily anyone was welcome to change the drawings.
The visiting NU-Q students received an e-mail about the chalking Monday, said Caitlin Sewell, a Medill freshman visiting from NU-Q. She said she supported the drawings, though she also said religion should be respected.
Sewell said she is not Muslim and is originally from the United Kingdom.
“I live in Qatar,” she said. “I can’t dress in a certain way. I can’t say certain things. It bothers me. I do think freedom of expression is really important.”
Other NU-Q students said they were offended by the drawings. Sharifa Ahen, a Muslim Communication freshman visiting from NU-Q, said she thought the drawings were unnecessary.
“I don’t believe freedom of speech allows you to disrespect other people,” she said. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything.”
Ahen said she was angry when she saw the drawings and did not want to speak to members of SHIFT. Other NU-Q students hoped to possibly set up a meeting with SHIFT members before they leave Friday, said Becca Donaldson, student affairs specialist for NU-Q.
Salima Al-Ismaili, a Muslim and a Medill freshman visiting from NU-Q, said when she first saw the drawings, she thought they were directed at herself and the other students visiting from Qatar. Al-Ismaili said she questioned the group’s purpose in using imagery she found offensive.
She also said she knew many NU students did not realize the Qatar students would be on campus. SHIFT members said Sunday they were not aware of the NU-Q student visit when they planned the chalking. After she saw the chalk on campus, Al-Ismaili said she read information on SHIFT’s blog regarding the drawings.
“I understand what they want to do-I’m a journalism major,” she said. “I get it.”[email protected]
