Culture clash at UCI

One of my sons attends the University of California at Irvine.  It is a fine educational institution, though its architectural style overall tends towards the mundane, a testament to its 1960s birth.  From its location, its academic standing, and its student body composition, one would expect the school to be a rather uncontroversial and staid place. But one of the troubling aspects of the school is a militant Muslim Student Union that has attracted unwelcome publicity.  They seem to be an intolerant lot, not quite comfortable with the idea of tolerance for opposing opinions.  There now is a reaction against their antics as noted in this post about a letter by Rep. Brad Sherman to the UCI Chancellor (here), this post about an investigation of UCI by the Department of Education (here), and this post by an alumna (here).

Based on the posts and on other articles I have seen, I think the MSU is a sad collection of, well, insecure and immature posers who need some supervision to make sure they don’t go around the bend.  I would also be happy to see them get a dose of their own medicine as far as offensive speech.  But I am not sure that these investigations or secondary actions against the school are warranted, as long as the University does not give preferentially discriminatory treatment to the Muslim students as contrasted with others, such as the anti-affirmative action group.  Some of the complaints in these posts are directed at merely abrasive, though protected, free speech.  At the same time, UCI’s discriminatory reactions alleged by the alumna are troubling.  Also, if the MSU speeches or programs threaten individuals or seek to facilitate terrorist activities, there is a problem.  If they are just presenting provocative views and offensive speech, no formal action other than, perhaps, a condemnation by UCI is warranted. But there is nothing wrong with vigorously condemning the Muslim students’ speech and launching demonstrations and rallies to expose their militancy and the offensiveness of their speakers’ views.