The Rally to Cease Rallying took place Friday and involved satirical speeches, random signs and a mixture of laughter and shouting.
Signs reading “This is not a sign,” “Stop Kony 2012” and “Anger” turned heads as a group gathered on College Green to rally together to stop just that – rallying.
The Rally to Cease Rallying, hosted by AVW Newstime, took place at the Civil War Monument on Friday afternoon to share a satirical message against activism and a real message against the administration.
“I am worried you think there is something I actually have to say,” said Evan Swingle, producer of AVW Newstime and a senior studying biology, in his introductory speech.
Luke Fikaris, a sophomore studying information technology communication systems, stood upon the war monument and told a fictional, emotional story about his father rallying about tuition and lack of change at OU years ago.
He said he hated his dad for contributing to the real problem of rallying.
The crowd soon broke out in the enthusiastic chant of “F--k you, Dad.” Fikaris soon was cut off by Swingle because his monologue was becoming a “real speech.”
“I love my dad,” Fikaris said after the rally concluded. “I have to call him before he sees the footage of this, apologize and tell him that I didn’t mean it. I don’t hate my dad.”
Fikaris said his speech was meant to be funny without a real message.
“I’m not really much of an activist, obviously,” he added. “This isn’t a rally. It’s a rally against rallies.”
The first set of speeches were followed by a talent show. Four students marched to the monument and displayed their talents — eating a banana, dancing, jumping jacks and texting.
“I’m glad that I got to sit here and let people talk to me about things that do not matter but it made my day,” said Trista Thurston, a junior studying journalism. “I came out and I didn’t know what’s it was for and I still don’t know what it was for.”
She said that the whole entire rally made her happy, but if she had to choose her favorite part it would be the “F--k you, Dad” speech.
“I thought it was really amazing, inspiring,” said Clayton Hamre, a junior studying political science. “It inspired me. The last final speech was something. … It was intriguing.”
He added that the rally lived up to his expectations.
“I think this is very goofy,” said Abbie Balcerzak, a senior studying statistics. “I think it’s just simply ironic.”
Despite the chanting, random signs and fictional stories, Swingle wanted to get across the power of speaking up and letting your voice be heard.
“Every individual has a voice. We come here. This is our home and they, the administration, keeps making decision that affect us,” Swingle said. “People keep coming out here. They have rallies and they try to get it across that we’re struggling, we’re having issues. That’s just another way of doing that — a different perspective.”
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