URI Republicans won't apologize for controversial scholarship ad
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SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island’s College Republicans today are pushing for reversal of a recommendation to “derecognize” them as a campus group for allegedly violating an anti-discrimination rule. The school’s College Republicans refused to apologize for offering a $100 scholarship for “white, heterosexual American males,” first advertised last November. Ryan Bilodeau, president of the university’s College Republicans, said in the news release posted today on the group's Web site that “the point was to use satire to protest scholarships awarded on the basis of race, gender, or nationality. Over 40 URI students applied for the ‘scholarship,’ many submitting equally satirical application essays.” The news release states the scholarship was satirical and would go to someone who submitted essays and application “on the adversities he has faced.” It was not meant to discriminate, the College Republicans say. The news release states the College Republicans got in touch with Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, known as FIRE, which is quoted expressing criticism. “Neither the Student Senate nor anyone else at URI has the power to force the College Republicans to say things against their will,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff says in the statement. “As bad as it may be to tell people what they cannot say, it is still worse to tell them what they must say. The Supreme Court has long recognized that compelled speech is not compatible with free societies. It is stunning that URI’s student government would show such contempt for fundamental rights, especially after URI’s own president explained it to them.” The release describes a vote taken by the Student Senate on Monday to "derecognize" the College Republicans as a campus group. However, Neil Leston, the Student Senate president, said today there has been no decision on this matter but, rather, it was a recommendation Monday by the Senate's Student Organizations Advisory and Review Committee. The Senate is slated to consider the matter next Wednesday. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney Leston, who was recently elected Senate president, said he has spoken to various parties about the matter, including the College Republicans' president, to get all points of view. "We definitely have an open mind and no one is out to get anyone in this ... We are trying to come up with a sanction that is most appropriate," said Leston. By losing certification as a student group, an organization can’t use university money or other resources, the College Republicans say. Leston said his understanding is that different groups fall into different tiers of money they are entitled to as a campus group. He said it typically also entitles a group to use of some space on the campus. In a Feb. 19 meeting, according to the College Republicans, the Student Senate’s Student Organizations Advisory and Review Committee banned them from giving out the scholarship money. The College GOP agreed not to award the $100, but the Student Senate committee decided that advertising the “scholarship” ran afoul of unviversity anti-discrimination bylaws and demanded the group publish an apology in the campus newspaper. Bilodeau appealed the committee's decision, but the Senate denied the appeal. FIRE wrote to Neil Cavanaugh, the Student Senate president, on March 13, asserting that since the Student Senate gets its authority from a public university, it must follow the First Amendment prohibition on compelled speech. But the Senate's March 27 memo to the College Republicans stated they must publish an apology and asserted it has the power to compel them to, according to the College Republicans' release. Later, it was changed to an "explanation" that would be put in the campus newspaper and a mandatory apology to be sent to all students who applied for the scholarship. The College Republicans decided to publish an explanation of its intentions but not write an apology. 
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I am not surprised. Liberals think that the only speech that is protected is "liberal speech".
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We are fast becoming a nation where freedom of speech is determined by race, gender, and religious affiliation. Discrimination in any form is damaging to the individual as well as our society. By sanctioning the College Republicans, URI is condoning racism. Scholarships should be given according to individual need and giving preference to different groups only disempowers them and maintains a dostorted social hierarchy.
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 20, 2007
RHODE ISLAND REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY SUPPORTS URI COLLEGE REPUBLICANS
The Rhode Island Republican Assembly (RIRA) hereby announces its support for the University of Rhode Island College Republicans (www.urigop.org) in their efforts to exercise their Constitutional rights and uphold the tradition of spirited political discourse in America.
The Founding Fathers recognized the critical importance of free and unfettered political speech, as embodied in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
RIRA applauds President Carothers, who appears to understand the critical importance of political free speech, particularly in an academic setting whose very raison d'être includes the rough-and-tumble competition between competing ideas and sometimes unpopular viewpoints.
Though the membership of the URI Student Senate have a right to disagree with the content of an advertisement, their efforts to demonize those who put forth differing intellectual ideals (White Heterosexual American Male Scholarship) indicate weakness in their chosen position; those arguing from a compelling position enthusiastically engage in vigorous discourse, while those whose position is weak or indefensible seek victory by hobbling those with whom they disagree.
In today’s politics of extremism, it must be understood that when a member of the majority has an opinion that some members in the minority disagree with, the offered opinion does not automatically constitute racism or discriminatory intent. Based upon the views being forwarded by the URI Student Senate and other URI students, one may say that the Black Caucus and the Hispanic Caucus in Congress are discriminatory and they should therefore apologize to the nation and be disbanded.
The Rhode Island Republican Assembly is an organization that believes in equality -- not only among and between individuals, but also among and between the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, such as the Tenth Amendment; the Second Amendment ... and the First Amendment!
Raymond T. McKay
President, Rhode Island Republican Assembly
19 Bakers Creek Road
Warwick, RI 02886
(401) 487-2514
State website: www.ri-ra.org
National website: www.gopwing.com
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I'm a Republican in the state and agree with students doing crazy things to make people question things, but going the race card as a Republican organization is not the best way to represent the party in RI. Good luck.
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