Praying outside the U.S. Supreme Court with red tape over one's mouth may not sound like a normal summer activity for a college student, but for Adam J. Weigold, it was only natural.
The MSU Student Association president spent three days — about five hours total — praying with a group of abortion protesters in Washington, D.C., this week.
"Some Republican students are really quiet," Weigold said. "They need to learn they have a voice, too."
Back at campus, Weigold estimated he partakes in about six to 20 demonstrations per year, sometimes with only one other person by his side.
"I always attend a demonstration when I can," he said.
When he went to Washington this week to attend a public relations school, he decided to seek out the anti-abortion group he had heard about earlier on campus.
Sure enough, the Bound 4 Life group was there, as they are every day, about a dozen of them praying silently with red tape on their mouth with black letters on the tape reading, "LIFE."
So, during his free time, Weigold joined them.
"It's very intimidating to stand out in front of all those tourists. There are tons of them watching you, tons of people wondering what's going on," Weigold said.
But the majority of the people who approached the demonstration were supportive, he added.
It's troubling, Weigold said, that so few college students join demonstrations.
"I think students will always demonstrate if they walk by the group, have time and agree with the cause," Weigold said. An issue nowadays, he said, is that students are too busy to protest, most working one or two jobs while they go to school.
Weigold, if anything, is becoming more active, he said. While in Washington, he attended a weeklong PR night school hosted by the Leadership Institute.
Weigold, who was voted into office in April, attended the school hoping to improve his skills as Student Association president, and he didn't leave disappointed, he said.
"In the last two years I saw presidents throw a ton of staff and a ton of money just for PR," said Weigold, an MSU senior studying computer science. The class taught him a lot, he said, and the trip, which included a stop at Sen. Norm Coleman's office for an update on some college-related bills, will certainly help him in his role as student president.
As for further demonstrations on campus next year: "I actually have several in the back of my mind," he said.
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