We Got Into Harvard! September 16, 2009

Posted by Ryan at September 16, 2009 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 ) | TrackBack

As you may have seen in our long-running and much-adored "Dumb Comments" series, meat-eaters can sometimes have a hard time coming up with much of an argument in favor of eating animals (aside from everyone's favorite crusher—"it's tasty"). So we were curious—can America's best and brightest do any better?

To find out, we set up a debate on the topic at the top-ranked college in the world—Harvard University. Working with the school's resident veg-heads from the campus vegetarian society, we arranged for a representative from the Harvard debate team to face off against PETA vice president Bruce Friedrich, to answer the question "Is Eating Animals Ethical?"

Ahead of the event, peta2 was everywhere on campus. In the student newspaper, walking around campus in a chicken costume, and even stopping by the dining halls at dinner time to remind students to attend the debate!

The result? A packed room, with more than 250 students ... well, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Now, I know what you're wondering. Who won?

Well, as the Harvard Crimson newspaper reported, "Throughout most of the debate, though a slim majority of the packed Science Center audience admitted to eating meat, [the debate team] conceded [the PETA VP's] arguments about the immorality of being a carnivore in today's world. PETA seemed downright reasonable." In other words, we made an unbeatable case for vegetarianism. :)

Pretty cool, eh?

So what do you say to convince meat-eaters to change their ways?

Liberation Comes to Michigan! (PICTURES) September 11, 2009

Posted by Ryan at September 11, 2009 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

With the fall semester now in full swing, peta2 is really kicking its college campaigns into high gear. We've got tons of exciting events, debates, and surprises planned for the upcoming semester—in every region of North America.

It was Michigan State University though that had the distinct honor of being first—by helping us re-launch our provocative and thought-provoking Liberation exhibit.

The display consists of twelve giant panels, detailing how the same "might makes right" philosophy is used to try to justify cruelty to both human and non-human animals. Atrocities like slavery and child labor were both commonly accepted in their time (and indeed still are in some parts of the world), even though we can all look back at them and recognize how hideous they were. Few people take the critical next step though of looking at the atrocities we're committing towards animals raised for food, clothing, and other industries today. Chickens having their throats slit while still fully conscious. Animals being skinned alive for their fur. How will history judge these acts?

Pretty hard-hitting stuff, right? That isn't all MSU got to talk about though. To really ramp things up, we sent America's favorite rabble-rouser, PETA senior vice president Dan Mathews, to speak on campus at the end of the week!

As usual, we took tons of pictures—for your viewing pleasure:

Pretty incredible, eh?

What do you think—which school should we come to next?