MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (October 26,
2008) — Central Michigan University has decided to charge a conservative
student organization hundreds of dollars for security at a recent event with
nationally-known author, commentator and activist David Horowitz despite a
threat of legal action from a national legal advocacy organization.
The
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education warned administrators earlier this
month that charging for security at Horowitz’s October 14 lecture on the threat
of radical Islamic terror would be unconstitutional — opening the school up to
legal action.
Organizers had asked the CMU Police Department to provide
security to ensure the safety of Horowitz and students in the audience.
Horowitz, a former communist, regularly receives death threats and has been
physically assaulted during past speaking engagements.
“Forcing students
to pay for the right to have a discussion on campus gives a veto to hecklers and
thugs who was disrupt events in the university community,” said Campus
Conservatives spokesman Dennis Lennox. “These hooligans will be able to turn violent
and shut down events because student organizers can’t afford to pay for their
safety.”
CMU decided to provide two police officers, and the event went
off without issues until administrators sent a letter to FIRE and Campus
Conservatives late last week rejecting FIRE’s letter to school President Michael
Rao and notifying them a charge of $220 would be invoiced.
Under a
Supreme Court case from 1992, the administration’s stance is
unconstitutional.
“It is … unclear why CMU has decided to charge … for
security now,” FIRE wrote in its original letter to Rao. “Perhaps the most
likely explanation is that David Horowitz has a reputation as a controversial
speaker and often provokes strong reactions from those that disagree with his
political views.”
In the case of Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement,
the Supreme Court ruled that “speech cannot be financially burdened, any more
than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile
mob.”
It also contradicts CMU’s previous decisions to provide security
without charge to campus events.
In April 2006, CMU Police provided
unprecedented security that included police dogs and metal detectors for a
speech by Morris Dees, a left-wing activist who is associated with the Southern
Poverty Law Center.
Students Against Affirmative Action held an October
2006 protest in favor of a state constitutional amendment banning affirmative
action and was not charged for a security detail that included Police Chief Stan
Dinius.
Campus Conservatives also received complimentary security for a
March 2007 screening of “Obsession,” a documentary on radical Islamic terrorism.
The screening had police officers assigned to the event free of charge.
“Instead of admitting a mistake, CMU is figuring out ways to bully
conservative students for hosting events and creating a discussion amongst the
university community,” said Lennox. “CMU should be protecting campus safety
irregardless of an individual’s ability to pay.”
Campus Conservatives is
the CMU chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, which was founded in 1960 by the
late William F. Buckley Jr. and is the country’s oldest, largest and most active
conservative youth organization. The YAF National Advisory Board includes Vice
President Dick Cheney, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Speaker Newt
Gingrich, former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former U.S. Sen. George
Allen.
