Animal Rights/Vegan Activists' Strategies Articles

Veterinary Student Anti-Bullying Campaign

From OurHonor.org
October 2022

The more we speak up as ethical vegans, the harder it is for individuals and institutions to label animal rights issues as “extreme.” Your story will help others. Please reach out and share your story with us.

Are you a vegan pre-vet or vet student who has felt marginalized by your school for your animal rights beliefs? Have you ever been mocked by a professor for refusing to dissect an animal, and disrespected by them for being vegan?

If so, you are not alone.

The Statesman reports that Stony Brook University sophomore Laura Streminsky felt “incredibly disrespected” by her biology professor, Dr. Marvin O’Neal. When Ms. Streminsky politely emailed Professor O’Neal this September to op out of an animal dissection lab on ethical grounds, and request alternative course work, she received a concerning reply.

Professor O’Neal stated that “most people” held a different, less extremist view of animal use than Ms. Streminsky did, that her moral beliefs were threatening to the rights of her fellow students in the course, and disrespectful of the laws of the state.

The threatened tone of Professor O’Neal’s reply has a name, do-gooder derogation. Do-gooders are people disliked or marginalized by others because they deviate from social norms for moral reasons. As stated in his email to Ms. Streminsky, he believed that her ethical stance surrounding use of animals violated social norms, and perhaps felt like an attack on his moral compass.

How do we push back against this kind of bullying? One way to address do-gooder derogation is to share your story of being bullied for your beliefs. The more we speak up as ethical vegans, the harder it is for individuals and institutions to label animal rights issues as “extreme”.

Your story will help others. Please reach out and share your story with us.

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