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Alex Desoto
Professor Bose
English 101
March 26, 2016
The Loud and Proud
Nothing is more entertaining than watching a radical person unleash his
unpopular religious views in public, especially during school hours. The University of
Arizona is home to an infamous student named Dean Saxton. If youre a student, youve
probably seen or heard of this man. You might even better know him by his nickname
Brother Dean. This man loves to articulate offensive words to homosexual people,
sorority women, pornography viewers, or even people who smoke marijuana. Many
people dont understand Brother Deans angle, or just why he desperately seeks attention.
To fully understand this man, we must take a deeper look into brother Deans background
and analyze his goal with his public addresses. In other words, is this man for real?
This is my second year Ive had undesired encounters with Brother Dean and his
preaches. New to the campus and being a freshman all over again in an unknown place, I
was walking to class in the 110-degree August weather alone and confused. I heard loud
noises ahead of me, soon interpreting as an argument. As I got closer, I saw a group of
people gathered by the administration building on campus. I had a few minutes to spare
so I decided to check it out myself. Gathered around an area what is known as Heritage
Hill, there I saw a man who would change my University of Arizona education forever.
What I saw and was hearing was shocking to say the least. Brother Dean was yelling very
unpleasant things at people, things Id never imagine one would ever say. I heard phrases

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such as youre a whore and God hates fags, as he was holding a sign that said,
Women Belong In The Kitchen. He is heard explaining things such as if a women
drinks alcohol or wears shorts, she is subject and should deserve rape. Or even on how all
fathers of sorority women dont love their daughters. Hes known for urging people to
forgive rapists, for again, women are the root and cause behind their own rape, something
that cringes me to even type. Being a freshman, I was puzzled and down right appalled as
to who this guy was and why he was saying these awful things, and how hes getting
away with it! For his personal safety, there are typically University of Arizona officials or
campus security in meters distance away from him, as a result of people reacting in a
physical way to his hateful speeches. I had heard of the Westboro Baptist Church and
other radical Christian groups before but this was the first time I experienced someone
like him first hand and it was eye opening to say the least. I was confused as to how a
normal looking guy like Brother Dean became so radical in his views and instantly I
wanted to know more.
On Tuesday, February 16th, the students of the University of Arizona were left
life-changed after his protest focusing on women deserving rape. He was wearing a shirt
that said Virgin Pride on it, and he was holding a sign that said You Deserve Rape. As
this poster clearly attracted a lot of attention, students argue that he has now crossed the
line and gone way too far. This last protest has always had Brother Dean in the back of
my mind, and I was cringing to learn more about the lifestyle of this guy. When I actually
started to try and find out more about Brother Dean, I was overwhelmed and undirected
where to begin. I had listened to him speak so many times without knowing much about
him as a person. Hes clearly very strong on his beliefs and religion, but who really is this

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guy? In one of the most recent public events hes spoken at, I noticed one of his friends or
perhaps acquaintances had been filming one of his events with a video camera so I
decided to try a quick YouTube search to see if he had maybe been posting the videos
online. The search was a success and I managed to find his YouTube channel, which was
titled Bro Dean. Upon watching a few of his videos I came to realize that he does these
protests on a much larger scale than just the University of Arizona, with far more people
involved. There were videos of Brother Dean on college campuses around the country
including UCLA, Michigan State University, and many more. This is not just some
hobby that Brother Dean has; its his passion in life. The content of the videos are similar
to what I have seen on the University of Arizona campus; consisting of him and his
followers saying things in front of a sea of disgusted college students protesting right
back at him. His YouTube channel made me realize that there could be alternative
motives for his preaching. Dont get me wrong, in order for Brother Dean to have such
radical beliefs I think he does actually believe them. Just the fact that he has a YouTube
channel containing well made videos with graphics, music, and catchy titles leads me to
believe that Brother Dean loves the attention he receives from his line of work. Brother
Dean not only wants to spread the word of God and save the students of this campus
but he also wants to make a career and life out of it.
Upon further research after having made a discovery about a potential motive that
Brother Dean might have, I came across a testimony that he wrote regarding his
inspiration starting this life of informing the public, or whatever he thinks hes doing. The
testimony was basically the quality that would be expected of a person like Brother Dean
but it did provide some interesting insight of his life. The testimony was posted on

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Brother Deans blog, which contains a lot of information about his life and intentions.
Not surprisingly, Saxton explains he was influenced by another well-known activist,
Brother Jed. Sitting down, listening to Bro Jed I was intrigued by his presence (1). This
gave a little insight as to why Brother Dean started this line of work. Another interesting
part of the article is at the very end, supporting my theory that he could have alternative
motives for his actions - If you able to become a monthly supporter or just give a gift, it
would greatly help me (2). This just shows that Brother Dean might be interested in
more than just preventing the students of the University of Arizona from going to hell.
After the article Brother Dean also makes sure to put his twitter username and his
YouTube channel at the bottom in an attempt to gain more support or possibly money.
We have heard who inspired Brother Dean and what hes up to when hes not at
the University of Arizona but I was still curious as to his background how was he raised
and how does that affect the person he is today. In order to answer this question, I was
listening to Brother Dean speak on campus in between my classes a few weeks ago when
he was arguing with a person claiming to be homosexual. Brother dean said something I
never could imagine could come out of someones mouth. He reacted by saying didnt
your parents punish you when they found out you were gay? At this point the student
replied no, when Brother Dean responding with a huge rant about the reasoning behind
when he did something wrong as a child, he was punished and his parents spanked him.
This is important in understanding Brother Dean because it shows the family in which he
was raised, and they are commonly referred to in videos online and even are featured in a
documentary produced last year. It also tells us that his parents most likely have similar
beliefs to his; which might have been pretty forced on him as a child. If he did live in a

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strict household, he probably didnt have the ability or wasnt allowed to form his own
thoughts on life. At the end of the day, everything he knows was taught to him in a
potential and possible abusive way.
After doing my research and thinking abut Brother Dean in depth, I am even more
fascinated by him. Even after all the research, I just cant wrap my head around the fact
that this person lives around the idea of being radical and so disrespectful to students he
doesnt know. I look forward to listening to him years to come as I explore new facts
about him. Although what Brother Dean says upsets many people, he adds a lot to this
community by being one of the highest attention seeking figures in the Tucson
community. His hateful speeches are embedded in the minds of everyone who attends the
University of Arizona. There is even a change.org website in which a student has made a
petition with over 1,000 signatures of people trying to get him kicked out of the
university, and even kicked off campus for good. Infamy is the desired life for some
people, and Brother Dean is no exception to that choice.

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Works Cited

1. https://deansaxton.wordpress.com
"Open Air Preaching with Brother Dean." Open Air Preaching with
Brother Dean. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
2. https://deansaxton.wordpress.com/about-brother-dean/
"About Brother Dean." Open Air Preaching with Brother Dean.
N.p., 01 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.