Senior Evan Schwartz, a Hatchet columnist, calls on students to ignore the planned Westboro Baptist Church protest, as a counter protest only gives them the publicity they crave.

On Nov. 11, members of the Westboro Baptist Church will picket at GW. They are protesting, in their own words, “to remind this nation that this next generation of young people have been raised for the devil himself.”

For those who don’t know, the Kansas-based group is the brainchild of pastor and former lawyer Fred Phelps. It looks to spread anti-homosexual, anti-Semitic, anti-military and pretty much anti-everything hatred across the country. His followers – of which there are roughly 70 – are known for carrying signs with such subtle slogans as “God Hates Fags,” “God Hates America” and the decidedly less subtle “You’re Going to Hell.” Next month, these signs will show up in D.C. again.

So what?