Banned Books Brought to Campus with English Club, SAGA, and RSL
Views expressed in this article are not representative of the Herald or McMurry University.
On Thursday, March 5th, from 5:30-7:30 PM the McMurry English Club partnered with both Religious and Spiritual Life and the McMurry Sexuality and Gender Alliance to bring a Banned Books Reading to campus.
When asked about the history of the event, Elizabeth Prinz, a McMurry Junior and McMurry’s Student Publication’s Editor, and English Club leader said, “English Club used to do banned book readings a few years ago outside on the steps of the library, but this has been the first reading event in a few years.” Prinz hopes to continue this event and others like English Club’s Gothic readings annually in the future. Prinz believes it’s important “to expose people to text that they might not be familiar with due to the restrictions and controversies surrounding them.” And in the same vein, “people should be free to choose for themselves if they find the themes offensive.”
At the event itself, copies of banned or challenged books were given away first-come to students who attended, donated by local businesses and students, with drinks and refreshments provided as well. Readers recited excerpts from books that are banned in some capacity either here in the U.S. or abroad.
Dean of Students and University Chaplain Rev. Ricky Harrison opened with a non-canon account of Jesus called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. The text contains elements some may consider non-traditional, including stories of Jesus as a young child. It is in a way “banned” itself, having not been included in the canon Bible and associated ancient texts. The Holy Bible has also itself been banned, restricted, or censored in dozens of countries around the world.
Many books are banned because of their LGBTQ+ subject matter or other themes, like the second selection read by junior Jeri Thompson, George Orwell’s “1984,” which was banned in different countries for being both pro- and anti-communist because of its discussion of censorship, propaganda, and totalitarian government. Thompson’s selection was from the beginning of the book, when the protagonist, Winston, is pondering the realities of the world he lives in and his relationship with the totalitarian and seemingly omniscient Big Brother.
McMurry English Professor Dr. Larry Bonds read from “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, which is set in a world in which an oppressive Christian theocracy assumes power in the U.S. and subsequently subjugates women into specific, rigid, and disenfranchised social roles. However, it is not so fictional, as both Atwood stated, and Bonds restated, every single thing in the book has happened somewhere in the world, just not all at the same time. So, it could be viewed as a cautionary tale or dark prescience and is often viewed as anti-Christian because of it.
A. McKinney read the children’s books “And Tango makes Three” and the “Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn” which have been challenged in and outside of Abilene. In fact, back in 2024, there was controversy regarding the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council’s decision to commission a sculpture of one of these books for that year’s addition to the Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden statues downtown, “Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn” by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. Some community members were made uncomfortable by its selection due to its themes of expressing and exploring identity, feeling it promoted transitioning for children. However, the author and illustrator duo publicly clarified that they felt it was a “book about best friends” above all else.
Lastly, English Professor Dr. Annette Wren ended the readings with two spooky stories from “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”: “The Bride” and “A Ghost in the Mirror”, which have been banned for being too intense or scary for children. Fear, violence, political oppression, religious commentary, and LGBTQ+ themes are common today. So, events like banned book readings give people the freedom to decide for themselves their views on complex and nuanced issues.