The largest event ever hosted at the Binghamton University Events Center drew over 25,000 people who came to campus this summer for an evangelical festival in early June.
The three-day-long gathering, known as the NYPENN Franklin Graham Festival, was part of an international tour featuring the famous religious leader, Christian musical acts, children’s entertainment and testimonials from those who believe in his message.
Graham ‘ who is the son of the prominent evangelical leader Billy Graham and who heads the relief organization Samaritan’s Purse ‘ has also often been associated with conservative, anti-gay and anti-Muslim principles which have branded him as a controversial figure.
Indeed, as the line of patrons waiting to enter the Events Center snaked around the parking lot and along the Brain, dozens of other members of the Binghamton community flanked the entrance to protest the festival. Many cited his numerous remarks on Islam, which he has called ‘a very evil and a very wicked religion,’ and his condemnation of homosexuality, which in a PBS interview in 2005 he said was at fault for the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
‘He basically preaches intolerance,’ said a protester, who preferred not to give her name. ‘The University shouldn’t have allowed him to have his festival here.’
Students and faculty have slammed BU’s administration for not consulting them before agreeing to host a religious festival hosted by Graham on the grounds of a public university. According to records obtained by the Press & Sun-Bulletin, BU was paid at least $80,215 for the use of the Events Center, West Gym, parking, police and other service fees.
But while protesters outside called Graham a ‘bigot’ and ‘racist,’ those who came to hear him saw the event as unifying.
‘We have no hate for them, and I hope they don’t have hate for us,’ Carl Carpenter of Endwell said. ‘I think they might have taken [Graham’s statements] out of context. He doesn’t preach hate, he preaches love.’
Even different churches in the area, Carpenter said, had to put aside their differences to come ‘celebrate Jesus Christ’ together at the festival.
The NYPENN stop on the tour also coincided with the one year anniversary of devastating floods which hit Broome and the surrounding counties late last June. Hundreds sought refuge at the Events Center during the disaster ‘ a connection not lost on the event’s organizers.
John O’Neil, chairman of the executive committee of volunteers for the NYPENN Festival, said that the Southern Tier had experienced two floods: last year’s devastating deluge and this year’s ‘flood of unity.’
A public university, he said, had been transformed into ‘a holy place.’