Three students said their freedom of expression was stifled when
a portion of their art exhibit focusing on women’s
reproductive rights was stolen just a day after it had been put
up.
The exhibit, “Women Exposed: Art of Contemporary
Issues,” opened at Northern Lights last Wednesday as part of
the three students’ final project for their honors collegium
class on the history of art as social and political commentary.
The three female students said they decided to do the project as
part of a tribute to Women’s History Month and focused their
exhibit on three themes: violence against women, unequal pay and
reproductive issues.
“We wanted to raise awareness for these issues in light of
Women’s History Month and hopefully show that these issues
are going to affect women for the rest of their lives and are also
prevalent on the UCLA campus,” said Avital Ungar, one of the
student directors of the exhibit.
The students felt their freedom of expression was being attacked
because the part of the exhibit that was stolen dealt with
reproductive rights and abortion.
University police say they don’t yet know the motivation
for the theft, but are investigating.
Liz Kislik, a second-year communication studies student and one
of the directors of the exhibit, said she was not as upset about
the value of the artwork ““ which she set at over $200 ““
as she was about what she perceived as an attack on her freedom of
speech.
“It’s really sad that we work and study in a
community where you have to be afraid that your stuff is going to
be taken down or vandalized if people don’t agree with your
perspective,” Kislik said.
The students also wrote a letter to Chancellor Albert Carnesale
to say they hoped to meet with him about ways to improve dialogue
on campus and ensure that every student has a voice.
“A university thrives when there is robust debate about
controversial issues. Theft and vandalism are the antithesis of
free and open discourse,” the students wrote to
Carnesale.
Paul Von Blum, who teaches the course, said the university
should reaffirm its commitment to free expression and called the
theft an “egregious assault” on university values.
Von Blum also said that if he had students in his class with
opposing political values, he would support their choice to put up
an art exhibit.
“I would condemn with equal vigor anybody who would pull
down pro-life posters,” Von Blum said.