Ryan ChartrandDan Mathews is known for his wardrobe. He has been photographed around the world dressed as a carrot, a priest and a cow, but early Saturday morning in Chumash Auditorium, he wore just jeans and a Change the Status Quo T-shirt.
The 43-year-old author and senior vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was the keynote speaker for the sixth annual Change the Status Quo Conference: A Student’s Role in Shaping Society.
The stop at Cal Poly is one of many university stops for Mathews, who is currently promoting his new book “Committed: A Rabble-Rouser’s Memoir” and trying to encourage more active involvement among young adults.
“Activism in the post ’60s world has been redefined by politicians as just troublemaking, and it seems like they forget what makes America distinct throughout its entire history is people speaking up against injustice,” he said.
“In a democracy, there always has to be a cutting edge group of people who will push for change. Women were not granted the right to vote because they asked nicely and wrote a few letters; they had to chain themselves to mayors’ offices,” the controversial group leader told the nearly-full auditorium early Saturday morning.
Although Mathews, a devout vegan, hoped Cal Poly’s reputation as a university with its own slaughterhouse would bring out some devil’s advocate questions from the crowd, he instead was received by a welcoming audience eager to hear his opinion on rodeos and his thoughts on how to get involved locally for animal rights.
“The idea of who can stay on this animal – whose balls are being twisted – the longest as a sport is kind of pathetic,” Mathews responded.
Mathews’ efforts to affect change in the world for animal rights range from breaking into Calvin Klein’s offices and marching the streets naked in Japan to wearing a carrot suit while angry pig farmers had children throw slices of bologna at him and accosting the Colorado beef industry while wearing a cow costume. However, his favorite exploit was when he dressed as a priest in Milan.
His new book documents these outrageous endeavors and the legal consequences that followed; he has been arrested more than 20 times in five different countries. During a KFC protest in France, police thought he was insane and had him committed to an asylum where he had to prove his sanity in French.
“I speak French as well as Paris Hilton speaks English,” Mathews said during a phone interview, making sure to include a quick jab at the hotel heiress who is often seen at the top of PETA’s worst dressed list, a dubious honor for famous fur wearers. Despite the language barrier, Mathews was eventually released and a French officer proclaimed “not only is he sane, he is a good citizen.”
Mathews is best known for creating the “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” advertising campaign of the ’90s, which featured a plethora of famous actors and models posing nude to boycott the fur industry.
Mathews attributes some of his success in the campaign to his homosexuality.
“I honestly don’t believe I could have convinced Pamela Anderson, Christy Turlington . to get naked if I wasn’t a fag,” he said.
When asked if he would consider giving up his veganism if animals were treated ethically before they died, Mathews said, “That’s like saying, would I eat my grandmother if she lived a nice life? I consider all meat-eating cannibalism.”