College Republicans at UCI suspended for one year following Milo Yiannopoulos event
‘Our universities should openly welcome intellectual discussion and challenging viewpoints’
After hosting the controversial speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, the College Republicans at UCI have been suspended for one year.
Director of Student Life and Leadership, Darlene Esparza and Associate Dean of Students, Sherwynn Umali met with officers of the College Republicans to discuss the event “Social Justice is Cancer with Milo Yiannopoulos,” which took place on June 2nd.
The previous event was met with protests, but the group expressed interest in having Yiannopoulos back in a bigger venue on campus.
The line for the June 2nd event
The CRUCI says they received an email following the meeting announcing the club’s suspension for one year. The email cited the club’s failure to provide security insurance certificate for the private security hired for the June 2nd event.
It read: “Failure to comply with these warnings results in immediate suspension of the group for the reminder and the current quarter (Spring 2016) and the following three quarters.”
But the CRUCI claims that they were not warned about the regulations hiring private security until one day prior to the event and that a past event with David Horowitz, which required private security, had no such requirement.
The CRUCI adds the administration, on the day of the event, attempted to impose a $1000 fee for hosting an event with a non-UCI organization, though this fee was contested and eventually dropped.
When asked about the suspension, Ariana Rowlands, President of the CRUCI said: “This sets a dangerous precedent for academic freedom and free speech rights.
“Our universities should openly welcome intellectual discussion and challenging viewpoints to prepare our young people for the future and the workforce.
“If a school bans a form of expression because of a viewpoint held it cannot be a place where young minds grow.
“Me and College Republicans at UCI intend to fight this and to fight for not only our rights but the rights of students across America who find their first amendment rights infringed upon.”
UPDATE
The university have now released a statement, clarifying CRUCI have had their privileges revoked to book event spaces through the Student Center and Events Services for a full year.
While their email initially stated the group faced “immediate suspension”, the administration now says: “The group has not been removed from the campus.”
Read the statement here in full:
“Contrary to inaccurate news reports, The College Republicans at UCI have not been suspended. Only the privilege to book event space through Student Center and Events Services has been revoked through the spring 2017 quarter. The group has not been removed from the campus and still maintains all other rights and privileges afforded to registered campus organizations at UCI.
“The action was taken because of a policy violation. Leading up to the Milo Yiannopoulos event on June 2, College Republicans were advised that Student Center and Events Services would require proof of insurance if a private security firm was to be brought on board for their event. This is required of all registered campus organizations. The group failed to provide the proof of insurance and brought the private security firm on campus anyway. This resulted in a revocation of their privileges to reserve space through Student Center and Events Services.
“Such restriction has been imposed on other registered campus organizations that fail to provide adequate information regarding their events.
“We take very seriously the safety and security of all students and community members. Our policies and procedures are designed to minimize physical risk associated with hosting events on campus.
“We also take very seriously the right of College Republicans and a wide variety of student groups to host events and speakers representing a diversity of ideas and perspectives.”