After the announcement of a meat harvesting facility sparked controversy on campus, a student animal rights organization, Rams Organizing for Animal Rights (ROAR), has planned a protest for students to express their concerns.
Abigail Bearce, a sophomore studying fish, wildlife and conservation biology and member of ROAR, planned the rally set to occur April 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Colorado State University’s Oval. The rally will start at the south entrance of the Administration building. Attendees will then march to the Plaza to continue the demonstration, according to the event’s Facebook page.
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Bearce, who is also the organizer for the Denver chapter of animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, said she planned the demonstration for students to voice their frustrations with the facility.
“CSU needs to know how many people are outraged about this,” Bearce wrote in a statement to the Collegian.
Bearce does not have an estimate for how many students will attend the protest, as ROAR is still trying to advertise for it, but she said students, members of ROAR and members of the Denver and Boulder Direct Action Everywhere groups will attend.
Bearce said the rally is not intended to have the facility moved off campus, but to show the CSU administration that students are upset with the project.
“The goal of the rally is not to have the slaughter facility moved off of campus, in fact I prefer it be built on campus rather than moved to the (Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center),” Bearce wrote. “The goal of the rally is to demonstrate to CSU that we are outraged, that we feel they went behind students’ backs and are being sneaky.”
Bearce believes CSU is withholding information from students because she and other students could not get any information about the facility from members of the administration or from the College of Animal Sciences.
“I have talked to many people in Administration and Animals Sciences, and no one wants to give any information,” Bearce wrote. “I have received all sorts of responses that seem to be contradicted by the next person I am sent to talk to. It is just frustrating that I feel (like) no one is being transparent.”
Collegian reporter Haley Candelario can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @H_Candelario98.
