How generous! The University of Florida has agreed to allow a group of its students to promote the film “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” on campus. What I’d love to know is what made this Patricia Telles-Irvin character honestly think that she had the authority to stop the students from speaking their minds in the first place. It never ceases to amaze me how many college administrators truly believe that Freedom of Speech is a privilege that can be restricted the moment someone is offended.
Victory for Free Speech at the University of Florida
Student Groups Allowed to Promote Controversial ‘Obsession’ Film
December 10, 2007
FIRE Press Release
GAINESVILLE, Fla., December 10, 2007—Student groups at the University of Florida (UF) will be allowed to freely promote the controversial film “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” following a controversy with the school’s administration. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) intervened after a university official e-mailed the student body demanding an apology from the student groups sponsoring the film.
“The University of Florida chilled expression on campus when it publicly demanded an apology from student groups simply for promoting a film,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “Now, all students have been assured that UF will support their right to freely express themselves without fear of reprisal from the university.”
Several student groups—including UF’s Law School Republicans, College Republicans, Jewish Student Union, and Jewish Law Students Association—had posted fliers to advertise a November 13, 2007, screening of the film “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.” The fliers used the headline, “RADICAL ISLAM WANTS YOU DEAD.”
On November 26, Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin e-mailed all students at UF a letter entitled “Official Response to a recent advertisement for the movie ‘Obsession.’” In her letter, Telles-Irvin stated that “the groups that posted [the fliers] owe the campus, and particularly campus members of the Islamic faith, an apology and a clarification.”
FIRE wrote to Telles-Irvin on November 29, reminding her that although the flier might have offended some on campus, it was unquestionably protected expression under the First Amendment. FIRE warned that the administration’s message created a “chilling effect” because students could reasonably fear punishment for hosting similar events in the future.
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