Report reveals no violation of anti-discrimination policy
Neither the MSU College Republicans nor the MSU Young Americans for Freedom violated the university’s anti-discrimination policy, according to a 126-page report released in the past week by MSU’s Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.
Both student organizations received notification letters in November 2007 from the office that said MSU was investigating charges of discrimination based on complaints from eight people.
The results of the investigation, which took about five months, didn’t surprise Kyle Bristow, former president of MSU YAF.
“The charges against us were really fabricated,” Bristow said. “The whole thing was a fraud, really politically motivated.”
The complaints were filed after an April 2007 speech by Chris Simcox, which was co-sponsored by the two groups and led to the arrest of five protesters.
Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, is an advocate for stricter laws against illegal immigrants. Each of the protesters arrested were of Chicano/Latino descent.
MSU graduate student Oscar Vega said he complained because he and other students at the event were prohibited from exercising their right to protest on campus.
“I feel (the groups) played it dirty in a lot of ways,” Vega said. “They had security already set up, the police were already there and profiling us before it even happened it seemed YAF was laughing about the fact we weren’t as connected as they are.”
Fred Fico, a journalism professor and adviser to the MSU College Republicans, said the protesters interrupted their speaker mid-speech and later falsely acted like victims.
“The investigation should have never been launched,” Fico said. “The Office (for) Inclusion (and Intercultural Initiatives) exercised no judgment regarding the case they had. I’m glad they saw the light, but sorry they even needed to see the light.”
Vega said a fine line between free speech and hate speech was crossed during Simcox’s speech.
“In some ways, they were using a misconception of immigration to bully students whose families come from those backgrounds to just basically make us feel helpless (that) we couldn’t do more,” he said.
Ben Morlock, president of MSU College Republicans, said nothing Simcox said could be considered hate speech. Illegal immigration, he said, is an issue many Americans are concerned about.
“Mr. Simcox essentially presented a viewpoint that is very much accepted in the mainstream political culture,” Morlock said. “This isn’t a radical, fringe opinion.”
Terry Denbow, vice president for university relations, said the marketplace of ideas is open for all MSU students, regardless of topic.
“I think the findings certainly don’t declare the rhetoric and conduct as models of civil public discourse, but clearly the findings declare that levels did not rise to actionable harassment or discrimination,” Denbow said.
“Those levels are very high and they must be, especially on a campus.”
Austin Jackson, adviser to the Young Democratic Socialists, said the report focused too much on YAF’s right to free speech and not on underlying issues of racism at the speech.
Jackson, a James Madison College professor, said he felt he wasn’t allowed to attend the event because he was black.
“Other people were allowed to enter, others that appeared to be white,” he said. “I was told to leave the building. For an hour, hour and a half that proceeded, the event was racially cleansed of students.”
Jackson said he wasn’t planning to protest and was barred from the building before the speech began or the protesters arrived.
“Those students, along with myself, had a right to attend the event,” he said.
Published on Monday, March 24, 2008
Comments
What a Joke
03/24/08 @ 4:09pm
This is a joke.
YAF has a speaker that the socialists group disagrees with (big surprise), the socialists set off fire alarms and violently attack YAF members, and YAF is investigated?!?!?!?!?
Why werent the socialist group who violently disrupted the speaker investigated?
Spinoza
03/24/08 @ 4:35pm
no kidding they didnt violate discrim policy.
look at the minority only groups here, THEY violate discrimination policies.
give it rest.
Burnin' One
03/24/08 @ 6:54pm
I’m sure Kyle B. is so excited right now he’s already got plans for a cross burning and immigrant round-up!
brad
03/24/08 @ 8:37pm
Too bad. I really wanted to see YAF and the Repubs banned, and their members expelled. Incorrect thought such as that has no place in a University setting.
Austin
03/24/08 @ 8:43pm
It doesn’t matter, they’re still racist.
Jason Van Dyke
03/24/08 @ 8:48pm
Now that there are clear findings that the complaints were frivolous, my first thought was that its too bad that the CRs and YAF can’t file a complaint of their own for sanctions against those students and organization who disrupted their lives by filing such outrageous complaints. Then I thought better of it. Now people see the YDS and similar groups for what they are: a bunch of sniveling stalinist brats who want free speech for themselves but for nobody else.
Everything should have gone their way in this. They filed complaints against what is easily one of the most despised groups (among both students and administrators) on a campus with a well-documented history for suppressing free speech. Most of the respondents refused even to dignify the complaints by agreeing to cooperate with the investigation. And the YDS nutjobs STILL lost.
Conservatives: 1 Stalinists: 0
EE Alumnus
03/24/08 @ 9:06pm
Brad, I hope you’re kidding when you state that “Incorrect thought … has no place in a University setting.” A university is supposed to be a marketplace of ideas. You may not agree with all of the ideas that are offered in that marketplace, but to suggest that any of them be suppressed as politically incorrect is an idea that I find totally abhorrent. You should also consider that this type of censorship is a stake through the heart of the First Amendment, which is one of the cornerstones of our political freedom in the United States (such as it is after years of attack by politicians of both major parties).
Timothy
03/24/08 @ 9:12pm
I would love to see a follow up article explaining what exactly the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives does, who sits on, and how big their budget it. Such an Orwellian sounding group must be extremely interesting. Perhaps the writer who proved her name meant fish could look into this.
Chris
03/24/08 @ 9:16pm
“Joke”,
Uh, what exactly do you want them investigated for? It’s amazing how quickly people want to jump and attack others to proclaim that jumping and attacking is wrong.
The Count
03/24/08 @ 10:05pm
You gotta give YAF their say, racist and ignorant as their ideas are. Unless they forced people out, they weren’t in violation at the Simcox event.
As it stands, let us remember that Kyle Bristow was kciked out of both the College Republicans Secretary Position and recalled by James Madison College from his ASMSU seat. He also backed down like a scared puppy dog when National YAF finally reeled him in when he wanted to bring in racist Jared Taylor. He was also condemned by David Horowitz for bringing in Nick Griffin. Let’s add in Jason Van Dyke being kicked off campus for a gun violation.
I’d say that is five major losses for the YAFers.
The truth shall set you free.
03/24/08 @ 10:37pm
This isn’t over. YAF will be punished for what they’ve done if the university has any interest in promoting justice at all.
Anthony Seleno
03/24/08 @ 10:40pm
“This isn’t over. YAF will be punished for what they’ve done if the university has any interest in promoting justice at all.”
What did they do???
Did you attend the Simcox speech?
I did, he said nothing racist. He actually spoke positively about immigration, and went on to say that many immigrants are some of the best American citizens in this country.
Jason Van Dyke
03/24/08 @ 11:09pm
I am just wondering what makes The Count think that myself, Kyle, and others won’t personally see to it that Jared Taylor are brought to East Lansing and MSU regardless of what anyone has to say about it.
As you all can see, my leaving campus nearly eight years ago and Bristow passing his torch to a new generation has really changed a heck of a lot. Kyle Bristow did more good for the school through YAF than I ever could of. And as for the new YAF leadership, I hope you enjoy Walid Shoebat tomorrow.
J. Edward Tremlett
03/24/08 @ 11:14pm
“They filed complaints against what is easily one of the most despised groups (among both students and administrators) on a campus with a well-documented history for suppressing free speech.”
See, now that’s what’s got me puzzled, here. Exactly how has MSU suppressed free speech in the past, and if they make a regular habit of it, why DIDN’T they uphold the complaint in this case, facts be damned?
You and the other YAFfers keep making MSU out to be this tyrannical force for censorship, but I’m really not seeing the evidence for it.
This is just the beginning
03/25/08 @ 12:15am
So…the Office of Inclusion said in the report that a student organization would have to physically assault a member of a minority group while screaming racial insults in order to be found in violation of the anti-discrimination policy. This is the “bar” according to U.S. law set by the conservative supreme court. So…it’s legal for student groups to:
1. Have police turn a YAF public event into a “private affair” by removing all non-protesting, non-white people;
2. Have invited speakers provoke a riot by telling Hispanics in the audience to wash and use soap;
3. Have the tuition-paying students at MSU foot the bill for DPS overtime at their event;
4. And have death threats referring to Franco, calls for “leftists” to be “purged,” and the like posted to their website, The Spartan Spectator
And none of this violates university anti-discrimination. According to the report, only when this white fascist organization lynches a Mexican or takes an African and burns him alive at the stake in the middle of Spartan Stadium will “the bar” for discrimination be met.
I think not. The students targeted by MSU YAF and DPS will receive justice. This “investigation” was only a first step. This fight has only just begun.
Brad
03/25/08 @ 6:29am
I love white people
Jason Van Dyke
03/25/08 @ 6:31am
The Office of Inclusion is the best!
What genius!
03/25/08 @ 7:33am
Let we forget, the real deal:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VAtUz7JM7TI
Those crazy YAFers, running their faces into those Commies’ fists. Oh, those crazy college kids!
Those Commies looking to bang pots and get nutty? Go cheer in the U-M and OSU football stands. You’ll get treatment, your mommies won’t ever forget, Einsteins. At least you’ll be with people who are stupider than you are.
Lazy 'U' politicians
03/25/08 @ 8:03am
“I think the findings certainly don’t declare the rhetoric and conduct as models of civil public discourse .. ” Denbow said.
—-
It is comments like this that (1) emboldens the BAMNs of the world and (2) increase demands for privatization of the Public Education Monopoly.
Contrary to “Mr. Press Conference at 4 P.M. Friday,” a large group of reasonable LEGAL Americans oppose ILLEGAL immigration, a.k.a., “rule of law.” And contrary to what the the foot-draggers in the admin. buildings at U-M and MSU try to promote, those people know their constitutional rights and will exercise them, come Hell or high water.
Mr. Press Conference wants “civility?” Then show courage and leave the Public Education Monopoly to promote that kind of civility. Lead by example — if you can.
Ken
03/25/08 @ 8:56am
Let’s be candid:
The YAF and people like Jason Van Dyke and Kyle Bristow are compelled to make inflammatory statements and be agitators because their views are outdated and irrelevant. If they operate in other way, no one will be listening. If it weren’t for the uproar arising from all their bigotry, would anyone even know the YAF was on campus? They’d be just another student organization like the Karate Club or Math Team.
The point being, the YAFs, Bristows, and JVDs of the world are without merit and useless. They contribute nothing to intellectual debate and are simply a distraction. All they do is prove that the educated, moderate masses are coalescing while the radical left and right polarize even further and marginalize themselves.
JR
03/25/08 @ 9:02am
Just watch that video posted by What Genious! It’s clear that those that were arrested and ‘protesting’ were just being disruptive. They were the ones that were censoring free speech, they were the ones that weren’t allowing a legitimate speech and gathering to occur. This is what more people need to realize. They were there not to listen, they were there to disrupt.
Talking about illegal immigration is only offensive if you’re an illegal immigrant hiding and not wanting to hear the truth. There’s nothing racist about discussing illegal immigration as there are people of every race, gender, ethnicity that come to the United States illegally. If you want to be here, go through the necessary steps, do it legitimately and there aren’t any problems.
I think we need to stop giving free handouts to people that don’t come here to assimilate, but come here to exploit. Go to Texas, or California, or New York, or Florida… and tell me what you observe. Crime, exploitation, corruption, increased drug problems, poverty. Stop illegal immigration and you stop adding to the symptoms of it. That’s what these people who were preventing free speech didn’t want you to hear.
My ancestors came here with no money, no foodstamps, no free housing, no free education, no free clothes or cars or jobs waiting for them… they worked hard and earned what they got. They wanted to assimilate – to be Americans. They didn’t call themselves Mexican-Americans, or African-Americans, or Irish-Americans, or Indian-Americans – Just Americans. They learned how to speak English, they learned how to dress like Americans, they learned how to read and write and farm and conduct business. If you immigrate the right way, with the right intentions – people won’t hold speeches about your coming here for exploitation and a free ride.
Real moderate
03/25/08 @ 9:06am
“ .. All they do is prove that the educated, moderate masses are coalescing ..”
Hmm .. like this?
Link Text
Oh, yes .. moderate, very moderate. And on the public dime, too.
Dan
03/25/08 @ 9:53am
What a waste of time. This all sickens me.
Ken
03/25/08 @ 10:03am
Real Moderate blathered:
“Hmm .. like this?
Link Text
Oh, yes .. moderate, very moderate. And on the public dime, too.”
That you posted a link to a video of people interrupting a meeting and engaging in the kind of “in your face” shouting which stunts honest discussion, and classify it as the voice of moderates is proof you have no idea what you’re talking about. That you’d call that video an example of moderates proves you are a zealot. Enjoy the margins.
Real Moderate
03/25/08 @ 10:38am
“ .. classify it as the voice of moderates ..”
They are your people, the BAMN people who enjoy Rev. Wright, Mr. Obama-lover. Live with them, Mr. Lib-burr-al Tax-and-Spender.
Kris
03/25/08 @ 10:51am
Brad, WTF?? “Too bad. I really wanted to see YAF and the Repubs banned, and their members expelled. Incorrect thought such as that has no place in a University setting.”
Who the he!! are you to say what ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ THOUGHT is? The ‘real’ world is going to shock the crap out of clueless idiots like yourself.
And “a university setting” is one in which open discussion of all ideas and ideals are required. Not just the one your dipsh!t tenured PoliSci prof thinks is the right one.
J. Edward Tremlett
03/25/08 @ 10:54am
“They are your people, the BAMN people who enjoy Rev. Wright, Mr. Obama-lover. Live with them, Mr. Lib-burr-al Tax-and-Spender.”
Damn, what is this – kindergarten? All that was missing from that was you calling him a poopy-head.
DisappointedInMSU
03/25/08 @ 11:55am
This is just another example of MSU being afraid of YAF and their big money backers suing them. It doesn’t matter what is ethically or morally right anymore, just what will save or earn you the most money.
The Simcox event was just one of the many examples of YAF and CRs violating the policy set forth by the University regarding student organizations. I have friends who were at the Simcox event and weren’t arrested by officers as some of our latino/a friends were arrested. Guess what? They were white AND they were telling the police to arrest them too since they were doing the same thing. When a group’s guest speaker tells the crowd to learn a few words like “wash” and “soap” then is protected by the University it makes one wonder how something similar from guest speakers of groups like Black Student Alliance, Women’s Council, or The Alliance of LGBT Students would be reacted to. I have a guess…They’d be removed from campus in an instant and there would be no argument about free speech.
Ben Morlock
03/25/08 @ 12:23pm
Speech codes.
Censorship.
Enforced political conformity.
Hostility to diversity of opinion.
Sensitivity training.
We usually associate such things with the worst excesses of fascism and communism, not with the American universities that nurtured the free speech movement. But American higher education bears a disturbing resemblance to the totalitarian societies that are anathema to our nation’s ideal of liberty. Evan Coyne Maloney’s documentary film, Indoctrinate U, reveals the breathtaking institutional intolerance you won’t read about in the glossy marketing brochures of Harvard, Berkeley, Michigan, Yale, and hundreds of other American colleges and universities.
Don’t miss the screening of this provocative film on the campus of Michigan State University. One night only!
Thursday, April 3, 2008 – 7:00pm to 8:30pm – Computer Center Room 402
See the trailer at www.indoctrinate-u.com!
Video Says It All
03/25/08 @ 12:29pm
If you have not seen the video please watch it, it speaks for itself.
Can you imagine the outrage if the tables were turned and a mexican speaker was yelled down and latinos were physically attcked by whites?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VAtUz7JM7TI
Real Moderate
03/25/08 @ 1:09pm
“ .. calling him a poopy-head.”
Your words, not mine. But they seem accurate. OK — he’s a poopy-headed lib-burr-al Obama-maniac.
Happy now? So — go shout down some Republicans in the name of “academic freedom” and “diversity.” Lou Anna Simon would approve.
After that — protest the use of phrase “manhole cover” as hetero-normative. Get an ‘A’ from the Women’s Studies Department. Be sure to cry, if it feels good.
MSU Moderates for Obama meet
MSU Cops Deserve Medals For Simcox
03/25/08 @ 1:26pm
I have friends who were at the Simcox event and weren’t arrested by officers as some of our latino/a friends were arrested.
—-
So your friends don’t know how to shout with spittle at cops. Good for them. Keep it up.
2005alum
03/25/08 @ 1:32pm
“Jackson, a James Madison College professor, said he felt he wasn’t allowed to attend the event because he was black.”
With all do respect to Mr. Jackson… it’s now “how you feel” that matters, it’s what actually happened. And this report says that YAF isn’t racist.
Ken
03/25/08 @ 1:33pm
Real Moderate stammered:
“They are your people, the BAMN people who enjoy Rev. Wright, Mr. Obama-lover. Live with them, Mr. Lib-burr-al Tax-and-Spender.”
Goodness gracious, do I have to explicitly state this for you? Those people, BAMN, aren’t moderates. Any flavor of zealot, including you, aren’t moderates. Zealots suffer from a malfunction of brain chemistry, an effect of poor genetics. Their mental model of the world is fundamentally flawed in such a way that it can’t be repaired. So is it any surprise that they cannot be engaged in discussion, reasoned logical discussion? Take yourself for example.
Zealotry is detrimental to society in any form, be it conservative or liberal zealotry. My position is that groups like YAF and BAMN only empower moderates because they (zealots) marginalize and discount their own message.
Real Moderate
03/25/08 @ 2:34pm
“ .. All they do is prove that the educated, moderate masses are ..”
Are taxpayer-funded eunuchs who don’t know how to use a calculator and thus cannot understand how deeply in debt the U.S. is. That so many promises have been made to so many BAMNs that bankruptcy cannot be ruled out.
Moderate back to bed and wet it. Insert thumb and pretend it is a grand merlot. Academic freedom for everyone (except those who do not agree with us, in moderation — litigate them into submission).
Ken
03/25/08 @ 3:10pm
Real Moderate made word salad with:
“[Moderates] Are taxpayer-funded eunuchs who don’t know how to use a calculator and thus cannot understand how deeply in debt the U.S. is.”
I’m fairly certain you need to pay attention. The Bush Administration, and the neo-cons are responsible for bankrupting America via the “War on Terrorism” and strangling the middle-class.
The truth is ugly and painful, your anger is warranted. I’d be angry too if the political and philosophical mindset I’d devoted my life to proved to be a failure. The struggle ultra-conservatives and -liberals need to undertake now is accepting that the solutions which are best and work for everyone are typically “somewhere in the middle”.
Real Moderate
03/25/08 @ 3:53pm
EVER READ HISTORY?
Your “Great Society” already BK’d the USA, decades ago. Like this, Einstein —
Moderates’ Heaven
Facts is hard, homie. But just obey Obama, and everything will be fine. Until he needs another dupe.
Real Moderate
03/25/08 @ 4:00pm
Better map to a view of $1,000,000,000,000.00+ in “moderate” investment —
Moderates’ Heaven
BTW: where is that dang report? It is not the “Inclusion” site. Why?
Moderate Inclusion Nirvana
Ken
03/25/08 @ 5:44pm
Hahaha, you’re actually blaming the downfall of Detroit on moderates? Wow, that’s one of the more detached viewpoints I’ve heard in some time. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
This belief that a set of public morals and flexible ethics is the guiding light of the future that trumps reason and logic is nonsense. If that is truly the direction America choses to go, then prepare to be irrelevant as a nation.
Zealots are guided by emotions, moderates by their minds. History has nothing to say on this issue except that one is clearly superior to the other. Ask the Greeks, Romans, French, Egyptians, British, Mongols, Prussians, Spaniards, Huns, Ottomans, Moors, Persians… what happens to societies which become so decadent and assured of their moral authority that they neglect reason, logic, and the application of both.
Is that the history lesson you were attempting to give me?
J. Edward Tremlett
03/25/08 @ 6:09pm
Wow, someone really got up on the cranky side of the bed, this morning : )
Real Moderate
03/25/08 @ 6:48pm
“ .. Hahaha, you’re actually blaming the downfall of Detroit on moderates?”
Nixon’s the one .. Einstein.
Hard to deal with reality, Obama-dupe? Obama won’t like that — better shape up, IQ-98.
Real Moderate
03/26/08 @ 6:06am
The actual $100,000+ report, paid for with your tax dollars and tuition —
http://www.lsj.com/assets/pdf/A3104021325.PDF
http://www.lsj.com/assets/pdf/A3104022325.PDF
Real Links
03/26/08 @ 6:08am
$100,000+ Report, Pt. I
$100,000+ Report, Pt. II
Jason Van Dyke
03/26/08 @ 10:02pm
I am a fascist.
Lee Walker Pitilmin
03/26/08 @ 10:04pm
Finally, the truth.
Jason Van Dyke
03/26/08 @ 10:06pm
That’s not me!
Jason Van Dyke
03/26/08 @ 10:06pm
Oh wait, it is!
Kyle Bristow
03/26/08 @ 10:08pm
I take huge dumps…massive dumps.
Jason Van Dyke
03/26/08 @ 10:08pm
That’s hott, give me a hot carl.
Kitty Cat
03/26/08 @ 10:10pm
meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow I want chicken, I want liver, meow mix meow mix please deliver.
Priti Kothari
03/27/08 @ 1:39pm
I peed my pants with happiness after reading this. I wish Kyle Bristow was my boyfriend.
JacksonMSUAlum
04/01/08 @ 7:51am
I just hate the fact that the MSU College Republicans have to be lumped in with YAF. The MSU CR have had a long history of producing State and National leaders and should not have to defend themselves everytime YAF does something stupid.
J. Edward Tremlett
04/03/08 @ 8:31am
“The actual $100,000+ report, paid for with your tax dollars and tuition”
Real Moderate (AKA Cooter): Please tell the folks on this thread exactly how you determined that this report cost 100K, 125K, or however much you’re saying it is this time. I think you’re making up the number out of thin air, and your refusal (on another thread) to explain how you arrived at that figure isn’t helping matters.