We co-sponsored the showing of the movie "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," and our organizations' names appeared on the fliers promoting the documentary to which Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin, on behalf of the UF administration, responded. Many of you have no doubt read Ms. Telles-Irvin's lengthy e-mail by now. Our response will be shorter.
We will not apologize for the fliers. Further, we do not owe an apology or clarification. The fliers stated that "Radical Islam Wants You Dead." This is a true statement. The ideal university should support freedom of expression. Ms. Telles-Irvin pays homage to free speech on one hand, but on the other hand reprimands those who use it to speak the truth.
That is a shame. The wisdom of the administration's action, an e-mail to the entire student body parroting one side's view, represents a dangerous precedent for every instance when someone exercises the right to free speech. Unfortunately, UF's administration never engaged in a good-faith effort to seek our perspective on this matter prior to sending out this mass e-mail to every single UF student.
For us, freedom of speech is precious. Like all other liberties, it must be defended whenever challenged. We will not yield.
