InIGo
05-02-2007, 03:42 PM
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, April 21, 2007
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The American Civil Liberties Union has weighed in on the side of the College Republicans in the dispute over the student group’s ad for a “White Male Heterosexual Scholarship” at the University of Rhode Island.
In a two-page letter dated April 19, the ACLU urges the URI Student Senate to halt its efforts to force the Republican club to apologize for the ad or face “de-recognition” by the university.
The First Amendment “simply does not allow the Student Senate to require the College Republicans” to make statements they do not want to make, wrote Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the ACLU.
The Republican club’s ad ran last fall in the college newspaper. The club accepted applications but its chairman, Ryan Bilodeau, said this week that the goal was make a statement against affirmative action, not to award any money.
The Student Senate’s Organizations Advisory and Review Committee has recommended that the Republican club be “de-recognized” for not apologizing and not publishing a “brief and accurate description” of the university’s rules on non-discrimination.
The Student Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on the recommendations.
Brown’s letter echoed the stance taken by URI President Robert L. Carothers, who has also called on the Student Senate to stop its effort to penalize the Republican club.
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The American Civil Liberties Union has weighed in on the side of the College Republicans in the dispute over the student group’s ad for a “White Male Heterosexual Scholarship” at the University of Rhode Island.
In a two-page letter dated April 19, the ACLU urges the URI Student Senate to halt its efforts to force the Republican club to apologize for the ad or face “de-recognition” by the university.
The First Amendment “simply does not allow the Student Senate to require the College Republicans” to make statements they do not want to make, wrote Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the ACLU.
The Republican club’s ad ran last fall in the college newspaper. The club accepted applications but its chairman, Ryan Bilodeau, said this week that the goal was make a statement against affirmative action, not to award any money.
The Student Senate’s Organizations Advisory and Review Committee has recommended that the Republican club be “de-recognized” for not apologizing and not publishing a “brief and accurate description” of the university’s rules on non-discrimination.
The Student Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on the recommendations.
Brown’s letter echoed the stance taken by URI President Robert L. Carothers, who has also called on the Student Senate to stop its effort to penalize the Republican club.