Healing The Divide? Sanford Mall Christians, Communists Equally Insufferable
January 29th, 2025
SANFORD MALL - Since the election, calls for “unity” and “healing” have permeated national discourse. It’s not hard to see why. Approval ratings are buried in the Seventh Circle, trust in the government is somewhere near the Ninth, and alarming numbers of distant relatives who were once into lawn mowers or something are now batshit crazy. Following a tumultuous 2024, the App State campus is well aware of the mess of American politics. However, one group of student leaders may have found a new common cause to unite against: those clubs who set up tables on the Mall and try to start conversations like we don’t have fucking classes to get to.
The diversity of tables on the Mall – from Calvinist youth groups to Free Speech Warriors to the Fourth International – are testaments to App State’s culture of tolerance, but tolerance might only mean so much. This is certainly what students like Molly believe. “I’m all for free speech, it’s still their right to set up out here. Doesn’t make it any less annoying,” she said, a junior who helped to found the Anti-Tabling Club after she tripped over a billboard debating whether or not Christ was real. |
“My lecture always gets out late, so I have ten minutes to go from App Hall to Broyhill. They said it was my fault for not looking ahead of me, but I was trying not to make eye contact so they wouldn't try to talk to me about who gives me my toughest battles or some shit.
Since its beginning in December 2024, the bipartisan club has found support in unexpected places. Dylan, a freshman, says he felt seen at the club after an earlier experience on the Mall.
“I was just getting here, like it’s welcome week, and these guys are like, talking about class solidarity and resistance and all that but the whole time it was like, y’all smell like shit,” he said. He says that the club president “seems a little gay” but that he’s been able to learn a lot from being a member. Despite previous Republican allegiance, he said that members of the club have since guided him to never vote again.
Of course, the goal of the Anti-Tabling Club isn’t just airing grievances; it’s about action. Over the summer, they tracked down the infamous preacher whose sermons draw massive crowds of angry students. They worked to crowdfund an initiation to move him and a list of new furnishings to Durham Park. His newfound soapbox keeps the vital area clear of foot traffic. One Anti-Tabler put it bluntly: “We had a mouse problem on campus, so we got a cat.”
When the preacher came to Durham Park last, the Anti-Tabling Club’s plan worked perfectly. Word spread and the crowds came to greet him, but they didn’t clog the pathways on the Mall.
“It’s curtains when the preacher comes. People were supposed to call us pinkos and tankies, but everyone wants to go to Durham Park to yell at him. All of our praxis is going to waste,” said one student with the App State Communists pop-up.
“We don’t even know what denomination he is,” commented a Reformed Fellowship tabler. “We can’t find out what bible study group he’s a part of.”
Much work is left to mend the differences between students on campus, but the Anti-Tabling club is hopeful. They hope that the App State community will take a united stand against dumbass tables clogging up important walkways – and maybe finding some common ground in the process.
Since its beginning in December 2024, the bipartisan club has found support in unexpected places. Dylan, a freshman, says he felt seen at the club after an earlier experience on the Mall.
“I was just getting here, like it’s welcome week, and these guys are like, talking about class solidarity and resistance and all that but the whole time it was like, y’all smell like shit,” he said. He says that the club president “seems a little gay” but that he’s been able to learn a lot from being a member. Despite previous Republican allegiance, he said that members of the club have since guided him to never vote again.
Of course, the goal of the Anti-Tabling Club isn’t just airing grievances; it’s about action. Over the summer, they tracked down the infamous preacher whose sermons draw massive crowds of angry students. They worked to crowdfund an initiation to move him and a list of new furnishings to Durham Park. His newfound soapbox keeps the vital area clear of foot traffic. One Anti-Tabler put it bluntly: “We had a mouse problem on campus, so we got a cat.”
When the preacher came to Durham Park last, the Anti-Tabling Club’s plan worked perfectly. Word spread and the crowds came to greet him, but they didn’t clog the pathways on the Mall.
“It’s curtains when the preacher comes. People were supposed to call us pinkos and tankies, but everyone wants to go to Durham Park to yell at him. All of our praxis is going to waste,” said one student with the App State Communists pop-up.
“We don’t even know what denomination he is,” commented a Reformed Fellowship tabler. “We can’t find out what bible study group he’s a part of.”
Much work is left to mend the differences between students on campus, but the Anti-Tabling club is hopeful. They hope that the App State community will take a united stand against dumbass tables clogging up important walkways – and maybe finding some common ground in the process.