It’s not often a student journalist is targeted with violence over something they’ve written. It’s even rarer for an entire school to rally behind them.
Bridgewater State University student journalist Destinie Mogg-Barkalow, who wrote a pro-gay marriage editorial last week, was allegedly assaulted over her opinion piece. The school held a rally Tuesday to back her.
Mogg-Barkalow claims a man and a woman approached her in a campus parking lot Thursday evening because she was wearing a sweatshirt advertising the student newspaper, The Comment.
The couple asked Mogg-Barkalow if she worked for the paper. She said she did. They then asked if she wrote the pro-gay opinion piece. Mogg-Barkalow again said yes.
As a result, the woman allegedly punched Mogg-Barkalow in the face, leaving a bruise.
In her pro-gay piece, “Prop 8 generates more hate”, Mogg-Barkalow calls gay marriage critics “religious bigots.” She goes on to explain her opinions on just about every aspect of the issue.
Mogg-Barkalow, who is openly gay, was shaken by the alleged attack. Her father spoke in her place at the march, saying it will be a while before she is willing to talk about the incident.
Hundreds gathered at the rally — mostly students, but also professors.
Even the university’s president, Dana Mohler-Faria, spoke at the rally.
The suspects are still at large, though police are working off a sketch.
