Mikey Shock leads a growing crowd of counter protestors in chants near an anti-abortion display on the University of Arizona mall on April 13. Several hundred turned out for the protest of an anti-abortion group that was allowed to set up their signs and gather on the school mall.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Several University of Arizona clubs criticized the school this week for allowing an anti-abortion display on campus that used graphic images of the Holocaust and genocide.

On Wednesday, College Republicans, a student organization, sponsored the demonstration, which features images of abortion, the Holocaust, global genocides, lynchings and language that referenced sexual assault, an Instagram post from FORCE, a campus feminist group, said.

The giant pro-life display returned to the campus Thursday, drawing hundreds of critics and campus police by noon. The UA did not responded Thursday to the Star’s request for comment.

“FORCE condemns the presence of this protest and is demanding accountability from ASUA administration, the Dean of Students office and the mall scheduling administrators who allowed this violence on our campus,” the post said.

A crowd marches along the University of Arizona mall Thursday to counter a nearby anti-abortion display.

In the post, FORCE said the the school failed to warn students or faculty about the demonstration. As a result, the Women and Gender Resource Center put up two small boards on the mall to advertise free counseling for students impacted by the protest, stating they were “aggressively accosted by the student members of College Republicans” for doing so.

The Survivor Advocacy, Oasis Survivor Support Counseling and the Women and Gender Resource Center supported over 30 students in the span of three hours on Wednesday because of the demonstration, FORCE’s post said.

Many students had come forward with recordings of those working the display calling students slurs throughout the day, the post by FORCE also said.

Other campus clubs including MECHA de University of Arizona and the Pride Alliance, also posted their disapproval on social media and asked that the university be held accountable.

The University of Arizona Hillel, the Jewish center on campus, posted a statement on Instagram saying they were “personally hurt by and angry about the egregious antisemitic content of the display.”

“First and foremost we are sorry for the students and staff members that had to experience the hate directly, especially those who interacted with people working the display and had to hear hate speech including but not limited to violent slurs,” the post said.

Protesters gathered on the Mall Thursday and spoke out both against the demonstration and the UA administration, marching around campus and chanting things such as “take it down” and “my body my choice.”

Lilly Arthur, a student at the UA and a desk assistant for the WRGC, said she felt “gross” after seeing the display on Wednesday and did not feel supported by the university or safe since they allowed it on campus.

After seeing the turn out and all the support for Thursday’s protest, Arthur said she felt better.

“It’s so great to see everyone here using their voices,” Arthur said. “At the end of the day we pay to go here, this is our campus and we don’t have to accept these hateful people.”

Mikey Shock, another protestor, said Thursday that the people on campus are derogatory toward students and many of them are in distress because of it. Shock also said she finds it “unbelievably sad” that the university doesn’t do anything about it.

“I hope that this shows our administration that we are not standing for this anymore and not accepting it,” Shock said. “We will fight back.”

WARNING: Graphic language. University of Arizona students speak out against an anti-abortion demonstration on Thursday. For the past two days, the demonstration has displayed images of abortion, the Holocaust, global genocides and lynchings on the UA mall.

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Jamie Donnelly covers breaking news for the Arizona Daily Star. Contact her via e-mail at jdonnelly@tucson.com