UC-Irvine Reduces Muslim Student Union Suspension

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



"One person's hate speech is another person's education."


Today, UC-Irvine administrators have announced that the suspension of the Muslim Student Union for one year has been upheld but reduced to one quarter, which will expire December 31. In addition, there will be a two-year probation coupled with one hundred hours of community service imposed on the organization. (Hopefully, that will not include the MSU's annual Israel Apartheid Week.) Individual disciplinary measures are protected by state university privacy rules. The original suspension, which was appealed was a result of the disruption of the speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at UCI on February 8 that caused an outcry both in the US and Israel.



http://www.ocregister.com/news/union-265026-muslim-student.html


"This has been a difficult decision," said UCI Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Manuel Gomez in a statement. "But in the end, this process demonstrates the University of California, Irvine's commitment to values, principles and tolerance. Although this has been a challenging experience for all involved, I am confident that we will continue to move forward as a stronger, more respectful university community."




Interestingly, Gomez, who was supposed to make the final decision, retired effective the end of August. Whether he made the decision as he walked out the door or left it to someone else is not yet known to this writer. My questions would be whether this was a negotiated settlement and who at UCI made the actual decision.

*Late update: According to the below LA Times article, it appears Gomez made the final decision.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0904-uci-muslims-20100904,0,656430.story