By Melissa Traynor

Whether they were fascinated, genuinely interested or angered by his arguments, a large crowd of students assembled around a Christian preacher who spoke today for the greater part of the afternoon.

Jesse Morrell, a speaker from evangelist ministry Open Air Outreach, came to CCSU earlier today to share his interpretations of Christianity, gripping a Bible and the attention of dozens of students. His speech today focused on his beliefs, including his view that homosexuality and premarital sex are immoral. Among other arguments, Morrell also believes that homosexuals “have the right to get AIDS.”

“Morality is living a life of intelligence. Immorality is living a life of unintelligence, when you’re governed by your feelings instead of being governed by your conscience,” Morrell said.

When a student asked if he had feelings, he responded, “I have feelings, but I don’t live to gratify my flesh… I live to please God.”

Morrell said there were three strikes against CCSU as he pulled out a copy of this week’s The Recorder, which features a front-page article about Ron Jeremy’s visit to campus.

“Strike number one,” Morrell said, “you love Ron Jeremy… but you mock the gospel.” He later accused students of focusing on sexual stimulation instead of the gospel, watching too much Music Television, and being “Jesus-rejectors.”

“The fact that there are atheists on this campus shows that there are truth-neglectors,” Morrell continued.

In open defiance of Morrell’s condemnation of homosexuality, two female students kissed. One of them, a student named Tori Davidson, said that he provoked her by saying she was tainted by BET, or Black Entertainment Television, and that she was frustrated when he claimed that homosexuals were mentally ill.

During his speech and accusations, CCSU students were provoked to yell taunts back at him and many of them openly questioned his logic and right to preach on campus. CCSU graduate and former Student Government Association president Alexander Estrom joined in the verbal fray. Estrom, who is also a youth minister, sought to argue against Morrell’s opinions.

“It’s nice to give my seminary studies a little bit of a work out,” he said. “… Even the devil can quote scripture to serve his purpose, and that’s what we’re looking at here.”

When Morrell accused CCSU students of committing the “sin” of premarital sex, Estrom yelled out, “But where in the Bible does it say that premarital sex is a sin?”

Morrell persisted, even though many of  the students who formed a circle around him yelled out insults and enraged questions. Some even tried to begin a chant to drown him out.

“So far it’s one of the more entertaining things I’ve seen and heard,” said CCSU student Jonathan Pare. “Apparently he’s read the Bible because he knows a little bit of it, but he’s twisting it in ways that it was never meant to be twisted.”

“Apparently he’s saying that homosexuals have three rights – one of them, which is the right to gets AIDS… He has the right to say so because he has the First Amendment right, but it’s just not good.”

While many expressed outrage at Morrell’s preaching, CCSU student Marlon Virtue agreed with his message.

“I think we should all be embracing Jesse, but we are very disrespectful, as on most college campuses that will be disrespectful,” said Virtue.

CCSU’s Associate VP of Marketing and Communications Mark McLaughlin stood by to monitor the situation.

“Think of it as he’s trying to scam the school,” McLaughlin said. “He’s trying to test the limits of freedom of speech.”

This is not the first college visit for Morrell, who has made a career of preaching at public campuses over the last five years.

Less than two weeks ago he was thrown out of the campus at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, a private college, for preaching. According to the area news station WAFF48 News, Morrell said his First Amendment rights were violated and that campus police arrested him for ministering to students. AAMU originally wished to file charges, but let him off with a trespassing violation.

In 2005, Morrell preached in front of bars on Temple Street in New Haven, Conn. According to the New Haven Register, he filed a lawsuit and won a $25,000 out-of-court settlement from the city, alleging that police violated his right to free speech. The settlement, issued in August, 2009, also stipulates that the City of New Haven cannot enforce disorderly conduct laws against Morrell for preaching on public streets.

Audio, Interview with Jonathan Pare:

[podcast]http://www.centralrecorder.com/audio/JonathanPareinterview.mp3[/podcast]

Audio, Interview with Marlon Virtue:

[podcast]http://www.centralrecorder.com/audio/MarlonVirtueinterview.mp3[/podcast]

Video:

Evangelist Jesse Morrell Preaches at the Student Center Circle from The Recorder on Vimeo.

Alex Jarvis and Edward Gaug contributed to this story.