Correction appended
Eleven undergraduates stripped down to their undergarments, smeared themselves with stage blood and pretended to be pieces of packaged meat in a demonstration co-organized by the Princeton Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on the Frist Campus Center South Lawn yesterday.
"We wanted to force people to make the connection between the animal on their plate and the animal that it was before — with bones and blood, just like people," PAWS president Jenny Palmer '09 said.
The human meat tray display was intended "to create an image people can't look away from," PETA senior vice president Dan Mathews said in an interview. "[We] have to get creative to get the message out." Mathews was on campus for a lecture sponsored by PAWS.
The demonstration was the brainchild of Alex Barnard '09, who also participated in the event. While admitting that lying in the hot sun underneath a large piece of plastic for 40 minutes was uncomfortable, Barnard declared that the display was a good means for effecting change.
"Someone told me that they were going to go get a hamburger, but after seeing us they got a piece of pizza instead," Barnard said. "Our point is that very small choices like that can make a big difference."
Spectators, however, had mixed reactions to the grotesque display of human bodies. For some, the display did not clearly convey the message of the demonstration.
"It doesn't make sense," Yolisa Nalule '10 said. "What are they trying to say?"
She added, "Even organic meat is packaged like this. I don't know if their point is [to say] 'just don't eat meat' or [to protest] the way the animals are treated."
Even among participants and organizers the message was not quite clear, with each having different views of the issue.
"We are ethically opposed to any use of animals," Mathews said, adding that "realistically, we are trying to stop the worst abuses."
The participants' commitment to animal rights varied, however. Ted Price '10, who played the part of a piece of meat for half an hour, is personally "not opposed to killing animals to eat them," adding that his personal participation was to protest the way animals are treated.
Another participant, Alex Zozula '10, has been a vegan for more than four years and took part "[to show] that there is not much difference between the animals you buy in the store and people."
Some students thought the graphic nature of the display interfered with its message.
"It's absurd. You just see people spooning each other under a plastic bag," Irene Ndikumwenayo '09 said.
He added that a different medium might have been more effective at conveying the protesters' opinions. "They could have made a better point by making a panel discussion," he said.
For others, PAWS' and PETA's efforts fell on deaf ears.
"Where I come from, there is no such thing as a vegetarian," said Cale Salih '10, who is from Iraq. "Personally, I wouldn't be affected, but my friend who's a vegetarian will have a different opinion," she added.
Two Public Safety officers were present to maintain order during the controversial demonstration, which was approved by Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Tom Dunne a week in advance.
"Our role in protests and demonstrations is to make sure everyone involved is compliant with University rules. We're as much there for helping the protest run smoothly as for protecting the opportunity for free speech," Dunne said. "If community members or other students tried to disrupt the protest, it would be a violation of University rules," he added.
Dunne emphasized that though students at Princeton may stage fewer protests than students at other schools, they are not necessarily more apathetic.
"Students here are just as apt to try and work with existing systems when they have a disagreement in order to effect change," Dunne said. "Here, there are really a lot of open lines of communication between student groups, faculty and administrators."
The leaders of PAWS, an organization that was founded earlier this year, plan to expand the organization's presence on campus in the 2007-2008 academic year. "We think we can [decrease] the amount of suffering students contribute to," Palmer said.
Correction
The original version of this article misattributed comments made by Irene Ndikumwenayo '09. The Daily Princetonian regrets the error.Read More
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