Student events held around campus usually include socializing, interacting and meeting new people, but a journalism organization’s upcoming gathering is an exception.
The First Amendment Free Food Festival, an event held by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), will offer free food to students who are willing to sign away their first amendment rights. The festival is a nationally recognized, award-winning event that has been held at schools across the country from the University of Miami to the University of Baltimore.
“This is a way for us to emphasize the importance of the First Amendment. We take it for granted everyday,” said Taylor Mirfendereski, a junior studying journalism and the president of SPJ. “We go about our daily lives and don’t necessarily think about it.”
Mirfendereski said that SPJ would like to actively simulate the event to make it seem as real as possible. They will include enforcement officials, called “goons,” that can administer the rules, such as police and a possible dictator.
After signing a form, students will receive a passport listing the rights they will no longer have. The goons will ban the participants from talking in line for food, sitting with one another, and expressing anything from religion to a slogan on a T-shirt.
“People don't really think too much about sitting at tables together or even talking about their opinions to one another,” said Sandhya Kambhampati, a sophomore studying journalism and SPJ’s programming chair. “Those are both rights in the First Amendment. We just want people to be aware of these rights.”
Some of the food will be donated from local businesses such as Domino’s and Burger King, but SPJ will also provide a portion of it. The organization is emphasizing that this event is free and it encourages all students to attend.
“This is a really unique event. We’re journalism majors so it’s hard to involve other students on campus who aren’t (studying journalism),” said Mirfendereski. “We want to share the importance of what we value as journalists to all of campus.”
Hans Meyer, an OU journalism professor and co-advisor of SPJ, also said that he hopes the event will help students appreciate the important role of the First Amendment in everyday life.
“It’s interesting, because we know what the amendment says from an academic standpoint,” said Meyer. “But in our free society, we don’t recognize its full importance. This is America, and people need to be willing to fight for what our Founding Fathers intended.”
What: First Amendment Free Food Festival
When: 1-4 p.m. Friday
Where: Howard Hall Site
Admission: Free
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