 "Photo: Lane Cotton Winn")
 "Photo: Lane Cotton Winn")
About 100 protestors gathered across from the Loyola Law School Wednesday evening to voice their disapproval inviting of Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, to speak at the school. Protesters said that Gandy, a pro-choice activist who graduated from Loyola Law School in 1973, has no right to be honored by a Catholic University. Gary Durel, one of the protesters, said Loyola was "turning a blind eye to her (Gandy's) character," becasue she stands for abortion, which "is a grave evil, according to the pope." The conflict concerning Gandy's appearance began last week when Archbishop Alfred Hughes publicly chastised the university for inviting Gandy to speak. Hughes' rebuke was followed by an advertisement taken out by Priests For Life, a national pro-life organization of priests, admonishing Loyola for Gandy's invitation. The ad, which appeared in the A section of Wednesday's Times-Picayune, read "Shame on Loyola University for fostering the Culture of Death by inviting onto the campus Kim Gandy." Peter Finney Jr., communications director for the archbishop, said Hughes made his statement because he did not want his silence on the issue to be taken as approval of the invitation. Dean James Klebba of the Loyola Law School declined to comment on the ad taken out by the Priests for Life or on the archbishop's censure of the university's decision to invite Gandy. Klebba said Gandy's invitation was a joint effort of the Women's Resource Center, the Gills Long Poverty Center, the Association of Women Law Students and the School of Law. According to Klebba, Gandy was an "excellent student," has been an active alumna and has helped many Loyola students get jobs in Washington D.C. Klebba also said that NOW supports many issues the Catholic Church does not disapprove of. "NOW has many issues that they support, only one of which is abortion," he said. Gandy's response to the controversy was to say, "The Archbishop of New Orleans is urging my law school to do away with traditional academic freedom of speech and replace the free exchange of ideas with religious doctrine,"according to the NOW Web site. Gandy has worked with NOW since 1973, working her way up through the state, regional and national levels, and before that she was active in promoting women's rights in Louisiana. Projects she has worked on include the WomenElect 2000 Project, an effort to recruit more women voters in Louisiana. Gandy also helped to draft the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which provided women with legal options in sexual harassment cases. And the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which helped to lower violence at abortion clinics. It is Gandy's work for legalizing abortion that has upset many Catholic leaders. Finney said that NOW has done many good things. He said he believes that their beliefs should be looked at as a whole. He said that one of NOW's main objectives is an ardent push for abortion rights, while the teachings of the Catholic Church are against abortion. "It saddens me that the accomplishments of one of our graduates are being reduced to one issue," said Susanne Dietzel, director of Loyola's Women's Resource Center. Finney said that Hughes thought the situation might be more favorable if the context of Gandy's visit had been different. He said that if Gandy were part of a panel that included feminists who are pro-life advocates, Gandy's visit might not be such a bone of contention. Finney said that the archbishop does not wish to cut off dialogue with the Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, after this affair. Finney said that Knoth and Hughes have scheduled a meeting in the next few weeks to discuss matters of "mutual interest."
"This is a law school, not a seminary," Gandy said on the NOW site. "Loyola's Law School's job is to develop lawyers, thinkers and scholars, not religious ideologues."
THE PROTEST About an hour before Gandy was scheduled to give her speech, protesters began arriving. Both University Police and the New Orleans Police Department were in full force in preparation for the protest. Sgt. Paul Accardo, NOPD public information officer, said that several precautions had been take. A canine unit swept the law school for bombs an hour before the speech was scheduled to begin. NOPD also sent a special operations team and mounted officers to the campus. Angela Honora, a lieutenant with University Police, said the department had had meetings about security issues for protestes because the public relations office had gotten complaints about people protesting. "Maybe they'll think twice about sending protesters," after seeing the police response, she said. Accardo said the police train for these sort of situations regularly. "We're here to keep the peace and make sure everyone's civil rights are protected," Accardo said. Law students began to gather on the porch as the protesters began to arrive. "We're a law school; the law says pro-choice," one student yelled toward the protesters. Aubry Harris, a first year law student, said the controversy surrounding improved discussion of women's rights among students and faculty. "I'd say 98 percent of the conversations today focussed on women's issues, and I'm happy to see the heightened discourse," she said. "They have a right to be here. … This is a place for open discourse," said Rebecca Fenton, first year law student. Fenton also agreed with Harris that the controversy has increased women's awareness on campus, at least for the time being. Brent Zeringue went to the protest accompanied by his wife and their nine children, most of whom were carrying signs across from the law school. Zeringue likened Gandy's appreaance at Loyola to inviting a neo-Nazi speak at a Jewish university. He said he felt he had to attend the protest because Gandy's views ran so contrary to the Catholic church. Durel also emphasized that he feels "Loyola is guilty of a double standard" in inviting Gandy. "We are Catholics," said Pam Richard, coordinator for the Catholic Charismatic Sidewalk Counseling and Picketing Ministry. "I don't go for this diversity or this let anyone speak…She's on Catholic soil, and the invitation should have been rescinded." Richard also called into question Gandy's commitment to ending abuse against women. "The ultimate abuse is to rip a baby from the womb; it is the ultimate child abuse," she said. Deacons and seminarians from Notre Dame seminary attended the protest. They said they felt they should just be there to show their support, but declined further comment. "This has nothing to do with academic freedom – no debate," said Dorinda Bordlee, an executive committee member of Lawyers for Life. She said Gandy stood for the violations of "true women's rights, because abortion hurts women" "I respect the views of everyone; I think universities should include all viewpoints," said Chris Day, who has been a member of NOW's New Orleans chapter for decades. Day could be seen carrying large NOW signs in front of law school. She tried to bring the signs into the speech, but all signs and cameras were banned from the room. The small moot court room filled quickly, and University Police had to keep several people, including law students and a woman's studies professor from Tulane, from entering the speech.
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