Tonight, University of California President Mark Yudof has issued a statement on the spate ofhate incidents that have been occurring on UC campuses recently.
Subject: Open letter to UC community from President Yudof on recent incidents
From: "Mark G. Yudof, President" <ZOTMAIL@uci.edu>
Date: Thu, March 8, 2012 6:00 pm
To: UCI Community:;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open letter to UC community from President Yudof
I write today to address, once again, the moral and ethical
imperative for all of our University of California students, faculty
and staff members to foster a climate of tolerance, civility and
open-mindedness. I am prompted to do so because of a number of recent
incidents that undermine this imperative.
University campuses are proper venues for collisions of ideas and
viewpoints. Conflicting viewpoints not only are inevitable but also
healthy in this context.
What is not acceptable are acts meant to disrupt the speech of
others. What is not acceptable are hate-driven physical and, yes,
verbal attacks on any group or individual that are meant to silence
or intimidate those who would express differing opinions.
It was wrong for hecklers to disrupt speakers on the UC Davis campus
at an event entitled "Israeli Soldiers Speak Out." It was
reprehensible that one of these hecklers accused the speakers of
being associated with rapists and murders. Under the direction of
Chancellor Katehi, campus officials dealt appropriately with this
individual, moving him out of the room and barring re-entry. But I
want to make this clear: I condemn the actions of those who would
disrupt this event. Attempting to shout down speakers is not
protected speech. It is an action meant to deny others their right to
free speech.
It was wrong for a vandal or vandals on the UC Riverside campus to
deface the Israeli flag displayed by the Jewish student organization
Hillel, scrawling the word "terrorists" across it. I applaud
Chancellor White for his rapid and vigorous condemnation of this
cowardly act. And I join him whole heartedly in that condemnation.
The chancellor was right to assign campus police to investigate.
Two years ago, at UC San Diego, it was African Americans who were
vilified by words and images that mocked their heritage and who felt
threatened by the hanging of a noose. Around the same time,
derogatory and profane words were spray-painted across the entrance
to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center at UC Davis.
Likewise, swastikas scrawled on campus walls or doors have made
Jewish students feel unsafe.
Since then, among other initiatives, the system's central office has
worked with the campuses and various groups, including students, to
revise policies on student conduct; the new provisions strengthen
prohibitions on threatening conduct and acts motivated by bias,
including religious bias. We also are working with the Museum of
Tolerance and the Anti-Defamation League to improve campus climate
for all students and to take full advantage of our marvelous
diversity.
Still, despite diligent efforts, we cannot say - and, realistically,
never will be able to say - that hateful incidents won't occur in a
community made up of 235,000 students and 185,000 employees. There
inevitably will be speakers or forums that present ideas others will
view as hateful and abhorrent. Hateful incidents will not be
tolerated and I stand ready to condemn them whenever and wherever
they occur, as should all members of the UC community.
As for incendiary speakers, we cannot as a society allow what we
regard as vile speech to lead us to abandon the cherished value of
free speech. But the same Constitution that permits some public
figures to engage in hateful commentary also protects my right and
duty - and your right and duty - to condemn these merchants of hatred
when they come into our community. Again, the best remedy for bad
speech is to surround it with good speech.
Finally, it is important that we keep our eyes on the prize. What we
collectively are trying to preserve is a vibrant and vocal university
community that is not afraid to explore or even argue about ideas,
that is not afraid to make stands on controversial issues, that is
not afraid of discourse, but one that embraces the ethic of doing so
in a spirit of respect and civility.
With our Chancellors, I remain committed to the principle of
balancing protection of free speech and promoting strategies to
foster an environment where all students, faculty, staff members and
guests can feel safe and respected - no matter their individual
characteristics or viewpoints.
Please send all replies to: communications@ucop.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The message invited comments, so here is the one I sent.
"For Yudof's statement to have meaning, I suggest he back it up by attending
Minister Farrakhan's appearance at Berkeley on Saturday. Do what I do, Sir, with
Malik Ali and the other hate-mongers who come to UCI. Let him have his free
speech then challenge him in front of his audience during the Q and A. Tell him
and the audience what he is and that you stand with the people he spouts hate
at.
Gary Fouse
Adj teacher
UCI Ext
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is one thing to list the incidents. It is another to state who the culprits are when
you know. Two years ago, UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake reacted to the hateful,
anti-Semitic remarks of Amir Abdel Malik Ali at UCI's anti-Israel week put on by the
Muslim Student Union.Yet, he did not name the speaker, the statement, the victimized
group, nor did he name the event, or the sponsoring organization. You cannot condemn hate if you are not willing to name the perpetrators.
No matter who they are.
No comments:
Post a Comment