Members of ISU Students for Life began placing 6,000 white flags on Central Campus on Friday morning to help people to visualize the estimated number of surgical abortions performed each year in Iowa. The field of flags stretched from Morrill Road east to Curtiss Hall.

By late afternoon three officers from ISU Police and the director and assistant director of the Memorial Union were on scene.

ISU Students for Life is an organization devoted to promoting a culture of life, said Sebastian Yaklin, sophomore in aerospace engineering and president of the club.

“It’s a moral issue and that all life needs to be respected. Abortion is the biggest, but we’re opposed to euthanasia and the death penalty, too. But, abortion is the most prevalent to college students, that’s our main focus,” Yaklin said.

In mid-afternoon, Sean Fritz, senior in computer science, arrived on Central Campus and began pulling out the neatly arrayed flags and began placing them in piles on the outside edges of the field.

“I think it’s a completely imprecate use of university property. I feel my actions are completely in the realm of free speech,” Fritz said.

Several members of ISU Students for Life discovered Fritz removing their flags and began replacing them. Neither party prevented the other from either removing or replacing the flags.

Timothy McQuillan, GSB senator for Schilletter and University Village and sophomore in genetics, acted as a mediator between Fritz and the members of ISU Students for Life.

“I received complaints from Sean and passersby about it,” McQuillan said

However, he believed that both parties have the right to express their views.

One member of ISU Students for Life called the ISU Police, and an officer came on scene and began talking with Fritz about his activities.

Eventually three officers arrived on Central Campus and spent several minutes determining what actions to take.

In a situation involving free speech issues, the job of the police is to mediate disputes between groups.

“As long as [events] stay peaceful and respectful there shouldn’t be a problem. We usually have to stand by and it usually stays peaceful,” said Sgt. Jessica Swanson.

To resolve the dispute, the officers called in Richard Reynolds, director of the Memorial Union, and Gail Ferlazzo, associate director of the Memorial Union, to determine if ISU Students for Life had the right to prevent Fritz from removing their flags.

Upon arriving, both Reynolds and Ferlazzo realized the size of the display far exceeded the scope of the event’s authorized area for use, which according to both Reynolds and Ferlazzo was 200 square feet in accordance with a level one event.

After determining the club had exceeded the maximum space allotted to them for their display, Reynolds and Ferlazzo said the group members of ISU Students for Life should remove the flags that were outside the 200 square foot area and the flags outside of that area could be removed by Fritz.

“If [ISU Students for Life] had met the proscribed space limit and if [Fritz] had continued to take down the display, we would have probably enlisted the judicial affairs staff,” Ferlazzo said.

She also said if he had continued to remove the flags he might have faced vandalism and theft charges, but she could not say that those would be the charges.