MSU right-wing groups accused of anti-discrimination violation
Student leaders and faculty members have been contacted by the university regarding actions that allegedly violated the university’s anti-discrimination policy.
A member and adviser of one of the student groups said no specific action leading to the violation was given in the report.
Fred Fico, a journalism professor and adviser to the MSU College Republicans, said he and others received a letter from the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives levying the charges. Ben Morlock, chairman of the College Republicans, confirmed the organization received the same letter.
“It’s incredibly unprofessional,” Morlock said. “The fact that the letter was sent out making these serious accusations and included the names of all the people at the top is very inconsiderate of the privacy of the individuals being accused.”
Fico and Morlock both said the letter made general accusations and did not name a specific event or instance in which their group violated the policy.
“One of the horrifying things about this, especially if you’re a teacher, is you could have interpreted this letter as you committed these discriminatory acts in your classroom,” Fico said. “The letter is subject to very broad and very defamatory interpretation.”
Morlock also said the MSU Young Americans for Freedom, or YAF, and their adviser, William Allen, received the letter. Kyle Bristow, YAF chairman, declined to comment.
Last month, YAF brought British National Party Chairman Nick Griffin to campus. In April, YAF and the MSU College Republicans sponsored a speech by Chris Simcox, which resulted in the arrest of five protesters.
The letter did not specifically say so, but Doug Schraufnagle, a member of the Young Democratic Socialists, filed a formal complaint with the university regarding the Simcox event.
“The administrators on this campus do more than most universities,” Schraufnagle said. “However, they must take the next step to enforce when free speech is stepped upon.”
Allen could not be reached for comment by The State News on Monday.
“My task with this group is to facilitate their opportunities at MSU to act in forms of self-expression and organizational development in a collegial manner,” Allen wrote in an e-mail sent to The State News in the spring. “I will not hesitate to step in in support of student groups of whatever stripe, as I have always done heretofore.”
Fico said the letter was sent from the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives under the names of Kristine Moore and Paulette Granberry Russell. Moore referred comments to Granberry Russell, who did not return calls by The State News on Monday.
“They made up their minds to charge us, which is totally wrong,” Fico said. “The anti-discrimination policy says it protects freedom of expression and the particular charges against two groups have no merit. The charges against the advisers are utterly without merit because how can an adviser be responsible for the students we advise? We don’t believe the students did anything wrong, but even if they did, the office has no place to do that.”
Published on Monday, November 5, 2007
Comments
Joe Sylvester
11/06/07 @ 12:43am
I would be mad too if I were a communist and could not disrupt their meetings.
jesses girl
11/06/07 @ 1:06am
poor commies, have a cry why dont you?
Nick Griffin is one of the few Brits willing to go to jail to defend free speech, I doubt he poses much threat to anyone here.
Ben
11/06/07 @ 7:11am
YAF are HEROES! Keep talking truth to power, but expect to ruffle some feathers. This univesity is so incredibly biased to the Left it makes me sick.
Jason Van Dyke
11/06/07 @ 8:26am
Very good learning experience here – it was a young socialist who filed the complaint(s) and I think that his actions speak volumes about what the stalinist left stands for at MSU: suppression of dissenting viewpoints. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone of course because stalinists worldwide have been doing the same thing for decades. I hope someone mops the floor with that little commie punk. If it were up to me, he would be deported to Cuba.
Giant Turkey Sub
11/06/07 @ 8:50am
I agree with Doug Schraufubobble from the YDS... We should take away free speech rights away from everyone on campus, and only bring in people that I agree with…
FASCISM! HYA!
Sincerely,
Giant Turkey Sub
jason are why
11/06/07 @ 9:29am
“poor commies”
“Keep talking truth to power”
“ I hope someone mops the floor with that little commie punk. If it were up to me, he would be deported to Cuba.”
Yeah, YAF sure sounds like a totally reasonable group that would never discriminate. Cold war ended a few years ago, guys.
KAE
11/06/07 @ 9:36am
I think the young republicans should just get straight to it and bring in someone who really challenges the status quo…the status quo being corporatism, capitalism, sexism, racism…oh wait, I’ve got the wrong group…is there any progressive group at MSU? Do you all understand that the socialism is not communism? Do you all understand that fascism is an extreme right wing phenomena?
Vic Maurer
11/06/07 @ 9:36am
Profoundly confused and politically irrelevant.
The only possible way to describe the Young Americans for Freedom and probably all five of their members who posted above. As far as Professor Fico’s assertion that the claim against him and William Allen are without merit, two words: respondeat superior. If, as alledged, a violation of the university’s anti-discrimination policy did occur, then the advisors role was to prevent that violation from occuring. That’s why student groups have advisors.
As far as the merit of the anti-discrimination claim, well that I can’t speak to. But I do know that YAF has to be the most closed student group on conference in terms of membership and access to leadership. Read their constitution. It outlines an executive leadership structure that is more cabalistic and secretive than what you would find in most one party systems. YAF exists to promote one political viewpoint, at the detriment of all others. Given that mission, it seems almost absurd that they COULD be open and non-discriminatory to all MSU students. My experience with YAF suggests that this just has to be the case. They have no interest in open and free dialog, because they know it is a losing proposition. Instead, they prefer stunts and crap like this article, because I guarantee it wasn’t Paulette Granberry Russell that “leaked” this to the State News, and if you think that the State News has the kind of investigatory journalism capable of breaking a story like this, you give them too much credit. But CRs does have a Journalism Professor for an advisor. You do the math.
jason are why
11/06/07 @ 9:42am
KAE,
It doesn’t really matter what they call people that disagree with them, as long as they sound like enemies of America. It’s much more about what feelings those words evoke, rather than their literal meaning. If someone disagrees with them, it’s much easier to just call them a “commie” or “fascist” than it is to actually argue or debate, or God forbid actually take a second look at your own opinion.
J. Edward Tremlett
11/06/07 @ 10:37am
On the surface, I’d have to say this sounds like bullshit. But I’d really need to know what the specific charges were before confirming that. And at this time, the only people who know that are the folks who formed the complaint and the office that delivered it. Care to share?
Speaking of YAF: YAF-Watch had an interesting piece of news. You remember the slaphead who was acting as an MC at the Nick Griffin speech, Preston Wiginton? Guess who was just at a Russian nationalist march in Russia, speaking against immigration?
http://yafwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/
preston-wiginton-in-russia.html
“Wiginton, who once compared illegal Hispanic immigrants with cancer, said whites “must unite to fight the invasion from the Third World.”“
Charming company YAF keeps.
Doug Schraufnagle
11/06/07 @ 11:22am
Believe it or not, while people keep saying the nature of the claim was not revealed to those being investigated it was actually William Allen and Fred Fico who articulated the nature of the claim most succinctly in their article a couple weeks back. Very contradictory, indeed. Check that again if you want to know what they are being investigated for. Also review the OIII office’s description of what the Anti-Discrimination Policy actually protects as well as what constitutes a bias incident. Policy – http://www.msu.edu/access/rule8.html Bias Incident – http://www.inclusion.msu.edu/equity/monitoring/bias
And jason van dyke, I believe it is a very good thing that very little in this world is left “up to you.” Fear is a good breeding ground for ignorance. Have a wonderful day. Keep hoping.
One guy in the line!
11/06/07 @ 11:34am
Nick Griffin may well be standing at the head of the line, when it comes to defending free speech, but he has millions of Brits standing right behind him. Give me liberty or give me death!
Philip
11/06/07 @ 11:58am
YAF Watch got a copy of the filed complaint and report by YDS months ago.
http://yafwatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/state-news-reports-on-msu-action.html
As for Fico, he must not have read what he signed when he became an adivsor
http://www.studentlife.msu.edu/current_students/rso/documents/advisors.pdf
Philip
11/06/07 @ 12:01pm
State News needs a better way to post links
Here is the first link
http://tinyurl.com/2k2t3h
And the second
http://tinyurl.com/3b9kuw
Jason Van Dyke
11/06/07 @ 12:05pm
The gestapo down at MSU’s Office of Inclusion and Thought Control can make “anti-discrimination” polices until they are blue in the face and describe their opinion of what a “bias incident” is until the cows come home. Their policies are absolutely meaningless. Even if we were to assume that there is a legal basis for their office to exist in Michigan, which after the MCRI, I do not believe there is – the policies of that office amounts to nothing more than a non-binding resolution. It’s comparable to when the Democrats tried to get a non-binding resolution condemning Rush Limbaugh. It has no legal effect and amounts to absolutely nothing more than an official expression of disapproval.
Personally, I hope that the Office of Inclusion and Thought Police issues a formal resolution of some sort condemning me. If they do, I would like to purchase from them an original copy bearing the seal of Michigan State University – because that is something I would like to frame and hang over my fireplace so I can show it to my grandchildren and tell them about how their grandfather stood up to stalinist oppression “back in his day.”
Jersey Giant
11/06/07 @ 12:28pm
Van Dyke, for that to happen, first you’d have to convince someone to breed with you.
Tom
11/06/07 @ 12:45pm
Oh poor baby libs. They don’t agree with something on campus. Boo hoo. Get over it. What is this, elementary school. Don’t attend if you don’t like it. Since when can the left not accept free speech. Oh, yeah, thats right. Liberals are only interested in accepting free speech when it agrees with them. I wonder how many times in the past few years the Conservative groups on campus have filed formal complaints against SEJ, or any other communist/socialist group on campus. I’m guessing never.
Erin
11/06/07 @ 1:31pm
It’s about time! The fact is that it has been documented over and over that YAF has violated the anti-dicrimination policy. Being a recognized student organization at MSU is not a consitutionally garanteed right. Groups must follow certain guidlelines to be one, one of which is the anti-discrimination policy. If they violate that, as YAF has done, there is no reason they should be allowed to stay a recognized student organization and continue to receive the privileges of that.
And if YAF’s advisor is truly unaware of these things, he should not be taking on the responsibilities of an advisor.
From the Advisor Agreement from the student life office website:
“I recognize that the duties of an advisor should include maintaining regular contact with the officers; upholding MSU’s mission, policies, and regulations; being familiar with the activities of the organization”
Torquemada
11/06/07 @ 2:04pm
Where’s my lighter fluid?
Jason Van Dyke
11/06/07 @ 5:56pm
Too bad it doesn’t matter. The anti-discrimination policy, especially as this article states it is being applied, is blatantly illegal. Not that the MSU administration has ever cared about the Constitution or anything like that, but MSU is a public entity and a state actor. If they cloak themselves in the authority of the state they are required to obey the Constitution.
Personally, if I had thinks my way, I order about 1000 rolls of toilet paper with the MSU anti-discrimination policy printed on every square and use it to replace the toilet paper in ever bathroom at MSU. Toilet tissue is all the MSU Anti-Discrimination policy is really good for anyway.
Doug Schraufnagle
11/06/07 @ 6:29pm
I disagree jason. I don’t believe people should be discriminated against based on characteristics that can’t willingly be changed. While I acknowledge that there are plenty of people who will always go out of their way to hurt others, I believe that there should be some form of repercussions for those who infringe on the Constitutional rights of other people. I don’t think that I am alone in this notion. In fact, the Constitution seems to back me up.
Your obvious disregard for disenfranchised people speaks volumes in suggesting just why you are not in support of a policy that attempts to protect the rights provided by the Constitution of the United States of America.
Jimmy John's Italian Night Club with Peppers
11/06/07 @ 6:43pm
I agree with YAF, i sure do love it when they bring holocaust deniers and various hate mongers to campus, the Young DEMOCRATIC Socialists a.k.a. stalinists (since Democratic socialism is very close to a authoritarian nationalistic perversions of Marxism-Leninism, known as Stalinism) should be ashamed of themselves and be sent to a conservative gulag run by Jason Van Hitler, whoops, i mean Dyke. lol commies, lol Young American for Fascism, whoops, i mean freedom, man my mind is slipping today, maybe because i’m a sandwich, and an amazing gourmet one at that!
Kyle Bristow is so cool, i would love to join his Christian white male caucus, but alas i am but a tasty gourmet sandwich, and i don’t think he would accept my tasty goodness.
J. Edward Tremlett
11/06/07 @ 11:03pm
So, let me see: Fico said, in his letter, “They do catalog, however, that you have discriminated against people based on national origin, political persuasion, gender orientation, gender identity, race, religion and … weight.”
Well, in that case, no, it’s not bullshit. Not all of it.
As to whether the university can, or should, actually do something, that’s another question.
Should the university punish a student group, and its advisers, for being mean-spirited children who can’t temper their passions? No, I don’t think they should.
But I think MSU YAF’s gone well beyond that. Judging from the company they keep, and what’s gone on the Spartan Spectator, I think the case can be made that there’s some real, genuine hate going on here. And I think the university’s within its rights to yank their status as an official group based on that.
Any sanctions past that I’d be leery of. Students have a right to hold and express loathsome opinions, as long as it doesn’t escalate into genuine harassment. But I think there’s grounds for kicking MSU YAF’s official status to the curb until a successful regime change can be implemented.
Subway Veggie Delight on Whitebread
11/06/07 @ 11:07pm
JJINC w/P,
If Bristow allows you to join his exclusive club, what’s right is that all sandwiches, regardless of tasty goodness, be allowed to join. The MCRI did away with state-sponsored discrimination that gave wheatbread sandwiches an unfair disadvantage.
Anyway, I though J. VD’s recent HIV positive diagnosis was going to keep him away from his computer until 2008.
Jimmy John's Italian Night Club with Peppers
11/06/07 @ 11:35pm
Subway Veggie Delight on Whitebread,
I am made of delicious fresh baked French bread, I am afraid fuhrer Bristow, whoops! i mean, Chairman Bristow may try to deport me :(
why oh great Chairman Bristow will you not accept me for who i am, i just want to please you with my real genoa salami, Italian capicola, smoked ham, and provolone cheese all topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, homemade Italian vinaigrette, and my zesty hot peppers.
Can’t you just love me for the sandwich i am?
Jason HIV positive? sounds like he’s been hanging out in those bathrooms that kyle has been recommending, either that or he’s been near a homosexual, because according to kyle gay people have HIV coming out of their pores, and then it gets into the air, and kills us all. At least i think he said that, but once again what do i know, i’m just a delicious gourmet sandwich.
J. Edward Tremlett
11/07/07 @ 6:59am
“Anyway, I though J. VD’s recent HIV positive diagnosis was going to keep him away from his computer until 2008.”
HIV? I thought he had a brief but passionate fling with staph – a biochemical romance so whirlwind that he told his family to get rid of his website and facebook profiles and connections for “security purposes?”
Subway Veggie Delight
11/07/07 @ 10:16am
JJINC w/P,
I think I just fell in love with you. Is there room in your deli for a slightly overstuffed, fiber-rich, healthy and highly nutritious grinder? I mean, you had me at Genoa salami. But, the idea of all that tasty goodness being topped with a zesty hot pepper—-ooooh, I get chills.
If you care to hook up, I do have condiments.
As afar as J. VD’s HIV status: Well, you don’t suppose he wears that cowboy hat for nuthin’, do ya’? Now that the fuhrer B is wearing one, too… Yeeeehaaaaa buddy!!!
Jason Van Dyke
11/07/07 @ 12:23pm
Just to set the record straight, it was a staph infection where I was hospitalized just for a few days because the doctors wanted to make sure it was a “regular” infection and that new and super-dangerous MSRA strain. It was a precautionary measure because the training partner of one of the other fighters – not in my weight class – had been diagnosed with MSRA several weeks prior. They had to run several tests to clear me, and once they did, I was treated and released.
The reason for the websites being down was simple: a threatening letter was received at my address while in the hospital and a family member took the site down as a precautionary measure. In doing so, he inadvertently deleted all of the files. I work 8:30 – 5:30 each day with an hour for lunch which I spend blogging on other sites. Now that the risk of spreading the infection is over, I have been training for my next contest after work and don’t have time to rebuild it.
J. Edward Tremlett
11/07/07 @ 1:14pm
So why did he get rid of the facebook profile? You weren’t actually silly enough to have your real address up on it, were you?
Boxer
11/07/07 @ 2:01pm
Oooooh, I get it. You were involved with a boxer who gave you an “infection.” You know, wearing a cowboy hat doesn’t give you a stainless steel bunghole. What does the center judge say before each match? “Protect yourself at all times.”
BTW, you must work at one prestigious law firm. All the attorneys I know who work at the best law firms, work from 8:30-5:30 and get an hour lunch.
What a moron.
Charles W. Skinner
11/12/07 @ 2:49pm
The sheer amount of flame responses in this discussion shows that it is not being actively moderated by the State News, for which the editors ought to be ashamed of themselves. They have allowed this discussion forum to denigrate into a series of personal attacks, rather than keeping it on point.
We’re supposed to be adults, discussing issues in a rational fashion. If you can’t act like an adult, then we’ll treat you like a child: Sit down, shut up and behave, because the rest of us don’t want to hear your whining and name-calling.
J. Edward Tremlett
11/12/07 @ 5:09pm
So tell me, Charles W. Skinner, President of the Conservative Law Society… what do YOU think about MSU YAF bringing a known holocaust denier, racist and jewhater to campus to speak about any topic?