The St. Petersburg Times has a front page article on the controversy today, December 13, regarding the continuing controversy over the UF administration’s chilling of free speech at the University of Florida. The article makes an effort to be fair to all the sides represented, though it unfortunately conflates the issue of an email sent by a LSR member with being related to the administration’s email, which says we should apologize for the flyers. Once again, only brief mention occurs of how the flyers were torn down — actually multiple times. This is perhaps the most disturbing prevention of free speech of all in this sad story.
To quote from the article:
[Dr. Telles-Irvin] said the ads promoting the film offended Muslim students on campus and that the students responsible for the posters should apologize. Her letter touched off a flurry of blog chatter, radio show debates and reprimands from elected officials, culminating with McCollum’s recent letter.
State Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, called Machen shortly after Telles-Irvin’s letter went out, expressing his concern that she reacted unfairly and inappropriately. Machen responded in a letter Nov. 28, defending his vice president. He told Hasner the message from Telles-Irvin was “intended to promote tolerance and diversity,” and to ensure “civility.”
President Machen defends his subordinate’s actions by referring to Dr. Telles-Irvin’s intentions. Unfortunately, this does not address the issue of depriving students of free speech rights. Actually, it only reflects a double standard on the part of the administration. In her original email, Dr. Telles-Irvin herself dismisses the intentions of the Law School Republicans, instead referring to the effects:
Regardless of its original intent, the language reinforced a negative stereotype, created unnecessary divisiveness and contributed to a generalization that only furthers the misunderstanding of the religion of Islam.
It is time for the UF administration to come clean and realize that regardless of intent, the administration committed a serious error — one for which it should apologize.
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