Dear Chancellor Howard Gilman, Vice Chancellor Thomas Parham, and Vice Provost for Academic Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Douglas Haynes,
With this letter we express our severe concern about the fact that Milo Yiannopoulos has been invited, again, to speak on UCI’s campus. Mr. Yiannopoulos has been invited by the “College Republicans at UCI” to speak as part of his “Dangerous Faggot Tour” in Crystal Cove Auditorium on October 30, 2016 at 2:00PM.
Mr. Yiannopoulos was recently banned from Twitter after violating their rule “prohibiting participating in or inciting targeted abuse of individuals.” The specific instance involved him inciting racist abuse against black, female actor Leslie Jones. Hackers, encouraged by Mr. Yiannopoulos’ words, were able to hack Ms. Jones’ account and publish nude pictures of her, bombard her page with pictures of apes and monkeys, and send targeted death threats to her. The harassment Jones received was so serious that the Department of Homeland Security has been investigating the situation (source).
Mr. Yiannopoulos’ online activity and public talks are abhorrent. His talks consist of divisive, minority-targeting rhetoric, with themes such as “Feminism is Cancer” and “The Dangerous Faggot Tour.” While Mr. Yiannopoulos has used a cleaner title for his upcoming talk at UCI, titled “Rally for America,” we expect the talk itself to contain similar content. Considering UCI’s Code of Student conduct regarding harassment, which reads:
“Harassment, defined as conduct that is so severe and/or pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so substantially impairs a person’s access to University programs or activities that the person is effectively denied equal access to the University’s resources and opportunities. Harassment includes, but is not limited to, conduct that is motivated on the basis of a person's race, color, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, marital status, ancestry, service in the uniformed services, physical or mental disability, medical condition, or perceived membership in any of these classifications. Pursuant to Section 104.90, sanctions may be enhanced for conduct motivated on the basis of the above classifications.”
We do not believe Mr. Yiannopoulos’ talk is suitable to host on UCI’s campus.
Similar to his online activity, Mr. Yiannopoulos’ campus events tend to bring his supporters to campus, who are primarily seeking to target protesters of the event. For example, protesters at his event earlier this year at UCI were met with verbal and physical threats from off-campus individuals that were documented and circulated across the Web after being posted to YouTube. Mr. Yiannopoulos’ visits have already caused strife at other college campuses. Last year, DePaul university saw rioting from students during one of his visits. More recently, a student from Clemson University was targeted on Twitter after expressing negative feelings about an upcoming Milo talk at his campus. In fact, in this interaction, the president of the College Republicans at UCI (Ariana Rowlands) contacted the student after he revealed he was talking with the UCI protesters about their experiences (source). The Clemson student was pressured to release the name of one of the undersigned, whom he had been in contact with, lest the abuse continue (see attached screenshots).
While we support Mr. Yiannopoulos’ first amendment rights, giving him a room to talk on our campus supports the continued harassment of minority students. Therefore, his talk should be categorized as hate speech and not freedom of expression. We argue that this is the wrong message to send to the UC Irvine community, which is still recovering from Mr. Yiannopoulos’ last visit, where many students reported being physically assaulted by his supporters, many of whom were not even UCI students. The Facebook page for his upcoming event at UCI advertises a “culturally appropriating, offensive, triggering Halloween costume” contest for attendees. We therefore strongly advise you to ask the organizers to move the event to an off-campus location.
Considering Chancellor Howard Gillman’s recent email “reaffirm[ing] the university’s long-standing view that ‘Acts of hatred and other intolerant conduct, as well as acts of discrimination that demean our differences, are antithetical to the values of the University and serve to undermine its purpose,’” we, the undersigned, do not see how the university can, in good conscience, allow Mr. Yiannopoulos to speak on campus.
If you do choose to allow the event to take place on campus, then we would like to hear from you how you plan to protect students’ rights to protest the event—and hold concurrent counter-events. The safety of students exercising their First Amendment right to protest this event must take precedence above all else. If the university feels itself unable to ensure its students’ safety against threats from on- and off-campus supporters of Mr. Yiannopoulos, then the event should be relocated off-campus.
Fiat Lux,
Updates
September 16, 2016
The administration remains silent regarding our demands but it is clear they feel the pressure of this movement. Post the link to this petition on your Facebook wall today to ensure the campus community sees we do not accept this rhetoric. Call the Chancellor's office directly to demand they prioritize student safety over hosting speakers who incite targeted abuse.
September 16, 2016
The administration is finally feeling the weight of our campus opposition. Now is the time to turn this pressure into action by emailing the Vice Chancellor directly to demand he addresses our concerns. Tell three friends to do the same before the end of the day.
15 Comments
As a minority student, the events concerning Mr. Yiannopoulos and the space it creates for like minded individuals to express and openly harass those who do not share their beliefs make me feel uncomfortable, unwanted on the UCI campus, and in a sense of heightened apprehension. Furthermore, the last time Mr. Yiannopoulos had an event on the UCI campus, I was very offended by the rhetoric used publicly to promote the event as if sanctioned by UCI since it was approved for public use. This type of event does not offer an opportunity for diversity, it gives a platform to continue hostility toward female scholars.
While respect for the freedom of speech is important to me, I believe there is a considerable difference between recognizing a legal right to speak freely and facilitating that speech by providing a venue and promotion. The planned speaker has issued forth with claims, calls-to-action, and proposed social gatherings that are imbued with a particular set of values that are not socially neutral. Providing him with the venue to do so is not socially neutral either. UCI should not seek to prevent this person from speaking at another, more appropriate venue, but it should also not endorse his theatrics by providing him with the material support of the campus.
I support freedom of speech. I am concerned that the actions of this group cross the line into what they explicitly characterize as a "triggering event". This is not simply speech but an act intended to draw our students into dangerous confrontations. As such it should be considered differently from the expression of opinion, and not given sanction on a campus whose first duty is to the safety of its students.
Not in favor of "censorship" on campus. But this person was here last year and I happened on the line outside the event: it was overwhelmingly off campus people. Later heard about "trouble" apparently based on inadequate security. He's already spoken. This is new event is just a provocation. Move it off campus, at least!
It's pretty depressing that I was debating whether I should hide my name on the signature list (for fear of harassment).
UCI is not the place to enable this continuous slid of smut into the sewer. Please ban this speaker and contribute to uplifting our young people.
A real stain on UCI's reputation!
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Dear Chancellor Howard Gilman, Vice Chancellor Thomas Parham, and Vice Provost for Academic Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Douglas Haynes,
With this letter we express our severe concern about the fact that Milo Yiannopoulos has been invited, again, to speak on UCI’s campus. Mr. Yiannopoulos has been invited by the “College Republicans at UCI” to speak as part of his “Dangerous Faggot Tour” in Crystal Cove Auditorium on October 30, 2016 at 2:00PM.
Mr. Yiannopoulos was recently banned from Twitter after violating their rule “prohibiting participating in or inciting targeted abuse of individuals.” The specific instance involved him inciting racist abuse against black, female actor Leslie Jones. Hackers, encouraged by Mr. Yiannopoulos’ words, were able to hack Ms. Jones’ account and publish nude pictures of her, bombard her page with pictures of apes and monkeys, and send targeted death threats to her. The harassment Jones received was so serious that the Department of Homeland Security has been investigating the situation (source).
Mr. Yiannopoulos’ online activity and public talks are abhorrent. His talks consist of divisive, minority-targeting rhetoric, with themes such as “Feminism is Cancer” and “The Dangerous Faggot Tour.” While Mr. Yiannopoulos has used a cleaner title for his upcoming talk at UCI, titled “Rally for America,” we expect the talk itself to contain similar content. Considering UCI’s Code of Student conduct regarding harassment, which reads:
“Harassment, defined as conduct that is so severe and/or pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so substantially impairs a person’s access to University programs or activities that the person is effectively denied equal access to the University’s resources and opportunities. Harassment includes, but is not limited to, conduct that is motivated on the basis of a person's race, color, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, marital status, ancestry, service in the uniformed services, physical or mental disability, medical condition, or perceived membership in any of these classifications. Pursuant to Section 104.90, sanctions may be enhanced for conduct motivated on the basis of the above classifications.”
We do not believe Mr. Yiannopoulos’ talk is suitable to host on UCI’s campus.
Similar to his online activity, Mr. Yiannopoulos’ campus events tend to bring his supporters to campus, who are primarily seeking to target protesters of the event. For example, protesters at his event earlier this year at UCI were met with verbal and physical threats from off-campus individuals that were documented and circulated across the Web after being posted to YouTube. Mr. Yiannopoulos’ visits have already caused strife at other college campuses. Last year, DePaul university saw rioting from students during one of his visits. More recently, a student from Clemson University was targeted on Twitter after expressing negative feelings about an upcoming Milo talk at his campus. In fact, in this interaction, the president of the College Republicans at UCI (Ariana Rowlands) contacted the student after he revealed he was talking with the UCI protesters about their experiences (source). The Clemson student was pressured to release the name of one of the undersigned, whom he had been in contact with, lest the abuse continue (see attached screenshots).
While we support Mr. Yiannopoulos’ first amendment rights, giving him a room to talk on our campus supports the continued harassment of minority students. Therefore, his talk should be categorized as hate speech and not freedom of expression. We argue that this is the wrong message to send to the UC Irvine community, which is still recovering from Mr. Yiannopoulos’ last visit, where many students reported being physically assaulted by his supporters, many of whom were not even UCI students. The Facebook page for his upcoming event at UCI advertises a “culturally appropriating, offensive, triggering Halloween costume” contest for attendees. We therefore strongly advise you to ask the organizers to move the event to an off-campus location.
Considering Chancellor Howard Gillman’s recent email “reaffirm[ing] the university’s long-standing view that ‘Acts of hatred and other intolerant conduct, as well as acts of discrimination that demean our differences, are antithetical to the values of the University and serve to undermine its purpose,’” we, the undersigned, do not see how the university can, in good conscience, allow Mr. Yiannopoulos to speak on campus.
If you do choose to allow the event to take place on campus, then we would like to hear from you how you plan to protect students’ rights to protest the event—and hold concurrent counter-events. The safety of students exercising their First Amendment right to protest this event must take precedence above all else. If the university feels itself unable to ensure its students’ safety against threats from on- and off-campus supporters of Mr. Yiannopoulos, then the event should be relocated off-campus.
Fiat Lux,
Updates
September 16, 2016
The administration remains silent regarding our demands but it is clear they feel the pressure of this movement. Post the link to this petition on your Facebook wall today to ensure the campus community sees we do not accept this rhetoric. Call the Chancellor's office directly to demand they prioritize student safety over hosting speakers who incite targeted abuse.
September 16, 2016
The administration is finally feeling the weight of our campus opposition. Now is the time to turn this pressure into action by emailing the Vice Chancellor directly to demand he addresses our concerns. Tell three friends to do the same before the end of the day.
15 Comments
At UCI frats are punished for culturally offensive costumes, yet this man mocks those rules by hosting this event.
As a minority student, the events concerning Mr. Yiannopoulos and the space it creates for like minded individuals to express and openly harass those who do not share their beliefs make me feel uncomfortable, unwanted on the UCI campus, and in a sense of heightened apprehension. Furthermore, the last time Mr. Yiannopoulos had an event on the UCI campus, I was very offended by the rhetoric used publicly to promote the event as if sanctioned by UCI since it was approved for public use. This type of event does not offer an opportunity for diversity, it gives a platform to continue hostility toward female scholars.
While respect for the freedom of speech is important to me, I believe there is a considerable difference between recognizing a legal right to speak freely and facilitating that speech by providing a venue and promotion. The planned speaker has issued forth with claims, calls-to-action, and proposed social gatherings that are imbued with a particular set of values that are not socially neutral. Providing him with the venue to do so is not socially neutral either. UCI should not seek to prevent this person from speaking at another, more appropriate venue, but it should also not endorse his theatrics by providing him with the material support of the campus.
I support freedom of speech. I am concerned that the actions of this group cross the line into what they explicitly characterize as a "triggering event". This is not simply speech but an act intended to draw our students into dangerous confrontations. As such it should be considered differently from the expression of opinion, and not given sanction on a campus whose first duty is to the safety of its students.
Not in favor of "censorship" on campus. But this person was here last year and I happened on the line outside the event: it was overwhelmingly off campus people. Later heard about "trouble" apparently based on inadequate security. He's already spoken. This is new event is just a provocation. Move it off campus, at least!
It's pretty depressing that I was debating whether I should hide my name on the signature list (for fear of harassment).
UCI is not the place to enable this continuous slid of smut into the sewer. Please ban this speaker and contribute to uplifting our young people.
A real stain on UCI's reputation!
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At UCI frats are punished for culturally offensive costumes, yet this man mocks those rules by hosting this event.