UF's vice president of Student Affairs denounced the controversial advertisement of a movie about "Radical Islam" in a universitywide e-mail Monday.
Patricia Telles-Irvin wrote in the e-mail that the advertisements, which included posters with the words "Radical Islam Wants You Dead!" above the movie title "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," were divisive and could contribute to stereotypes of Muslims on campus.
Though the posters were protected by the First Amendment, the decision to create the advertisements was irresponsible, Telles-Irvin wrote. She said the organizations promoting the movie should publicly apologize.
"There is little room for divisiveness in our world if we are to find peace and understanding among us," she wrote.
The UF College Republicans and the UF Law School Republicans, which helped sponsor the movie, would not apologize for the flyers, wrote Matt Klein, a justice on the Student Government Supreme Court, in an e-mail.
Before the documentary was shown, Klein had written an e-mail in which he accused students of tearing down flyers and accused them and leaders of an unnamed student organization of identifying with "Radical Islam." The e-mail was not mentioned in Telles-Irvin's message.
"The wisdom of the administration's action, an email 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," he wrote.
Yaser Ali, president of Islam on Campus, said he was happy with Telles-Irvin's response to the controversy.
