Millersville University is preparing for a possible Monday morning visit from Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay Kansas church group known for protesting military funerals.
Last weekend, Westboro added MU to its online picketing schedule, saying it will picket the screening of an anti-hate film to be shown Sunday night at the campus.
"After today's screening, you will know that God hates people and sends people to hell," the church said on its Web site.
This week, MU students were preparing to stand alongside the Westboro group as "peacekeepers." Campus police planned to have extra officers on hand.
But no one knows if the Westboro group actually will show up, or where the group will assemble on campus.
"Our police have talked with other locations where Westboro folks have been scheduled. What we have heard is that either they don't show up, or bring only a few (less than 6) people," university spokeswoman Janet Kacskos said.
Last week, for example, the group said it would picket at Temple University, but never showed up.
Typically, two MU campus police officers are on duty on a Monday morning. The police will add a couple more to that contingent, Kacskos said, in preparation for a possible visit.
Westboro members conduct anti-gay protests across the country. They often target military funerals, carrying signs that read, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," saying those deaths are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.
The group picketed the 2006 funeral of fallen Marine Matthew Snyder. His father, Albert Snyder of York, sued Westboro but an appeals court recently ruled against him and he has been ordered to pay more than $16,000 in court costs to the church. Veterans and other groups are raising funds to help him pay the bill.
At MU, Westboro is targeting the showing of "The Anatomy of Hate," a film about hate and hate groups that features Westboro. The film is part of a five-day "Silencing the Hate" program of lectures, forums and other events sponsored by student campus groups.
Allies, MU's gender and sexuality alliance group, is one of the sponsors of the program. Its president, Ash McLaughlin, said students want a peaceful experience with Westboro, if the church shows up.
To that end, Allies is encouraging students to be trained to be "Silent Witnesses," or peaceful counterparts to anti-gay protests by groups such as Westboro.
About 100 students signed up for a Silent Witness training program scheduled for Wednesday night at MU. Another 150 indicated they might attend.
Silent Witnesses wear safety vests and carry large umbrellas. If Westboro shows up, the Witnesses will stand with their backs to Westboro and their umbrellas open over their shoulders, blocking views of the group.
"It creates a visual and spiritual firewall that allows students to walk past," McLaughlin said. "You might hear these people (Westboro) screaming, but you will see umbrellas and people who are smiling and happy."
The Witnesses will work to defuse confrontations between Westboro and passersby to avoid fights and arrests, she said.
Blaise Liffick is the faculty adviser to Allies and the director of operations for Silent Witness Peacekeepers Alliance.
Liffick, a computer science professor, said a group of students also has discussed forming a counterprotest to Westboro's presence.
Even if Westboro does not show up, Liffick said a counterprotest is possible.
"It will be in support of the campus community," he said. The counterprotesters, he said, have talked about holding signs that read, "God is Love."
The counterprotesters might line campus sidewalks so people can see their positive messages, he said.
"People are intending to send a message to people that their kind of hatred is not welcome on our campus," he said.
McLaughlin said she has been cheered by the spirit of unity that has been sparked by the possible Westboro visit.
"It's actually kind of inspiring," she said. "Suddenly, everyone is incredibly involved. People want to know: How can I help?"