The Westboro Baptist Church will be coming to Columbia on Monday Feb. 25 to protest outside Stephens College.
They cite Stephens’ policy of admitting non-binary and transgender women.
The church has a permit to protest on public property around Stephens College’s campus, but not on it.
The Columbia Police Department will have an officer monitoring the situation.
Community Relations Specialist Jefferey Pitts emphasized that CPD will be respecting everyone’s first amendment rights.
“The Columbia Police would ask everyone to be mindful and respectful of people,” Pitts said. “Everyone has their own difference of opinion, and that is recognized. We want to ensure that everyone stays safe and not let your actions get the best of you.”
Stephens College’s Director of Marketing and Communications Rebecca Kline says they will not be paying the group any attention.
“Frankly, our approach is to completely ignore their protest,” Kline said. “They have the right to free speech of course, but we don’t want that on our campus and we don’t want to give them any undue attention.”
Kline also says Stephens’ campus safety team has been working with CPD to ensure student safety during the protest.