The University of California Irvine moved in May to suspend the school’s Muslim Student Union for a year, after Muslim students affiliated with the MSU participated in disruptive protests at an on-campus speech by an Israeli official.
Irvine claimed that the MSU had “planned, orchestrated, and coordinated” the disruption as a group, justifying the one-year suspension. But the MSU argued that they had done no such thing, and the organization’s new president argued that the ban would “deprive Muslim students — both current and incoming — of a place where they can develop a sense of community with one another and with the broader UCI campus community.”
The MSU appealed the sanction, and a ruling on the appeal is expected by the start of classes this fall.
Whatever the administration decides, this story is likely to continue to develop in the fall. If the ban is rescinded, expect national attention from the media and the right-wing blogosphere. If it’s kept in place, look for Muslim students at Irvine and beyond to seek ways to circumvent its restrictions. Either way, the case — which the LA Times called “the first in recent memory at UC recommending the ban of a student group for something other than hazing or alcohol abuse” — raises important questions about student autonomy and campus organizing.
This post is the third in a series of twelve exploring the student activism stories that are likely to make news on the American campus in the 2010-11 academic year.
studentactivism.net 
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August 21, 2010 at 12:20 am
Sean
The suspension of the MSU at UCI should be placed in its proper context: the Offices of Student Conduct/Student Judicial Affairs at universities across California (e.g., UCB, UCI, UCSC, SFSU) are employing the student disciplinary process to repress student activists and to quell the upsurge in student activism (in fact, this is an international trend; for example, students at UPR face disciplinary sanctions for participation in the recent strike). As for UCI, the Office of Student Conduct there is currently attempting to sanction students who participated in the occupation of CSUF on 3/3/10 (reported on this blog)–which could foreshadow a dangerous trend in which the university attempts to regulate students’ off-campus political activity. The OSC at UCI is also investigating and/or sanctioning students for demonstrations on 11/24/09, 2/24/10, and 3/4/10. The story at UC Berkeley is much the same: the Office of Student Conduct continues to attempt to impose suspensions on those involved in the occupation of Wheeler Hall on 11/20/09; those involved in the occupation of the A&E Building on 11/18/09 also still face sanctions from the UC.
I’m glad you did a post on this issue. The footage or images of riot cops beating insurgent students linger in the collective consciousness; but we can’t forget that student activists also face repression on a daily basis from the Office of Student Conduct/Student Judicial Affairs, long after the riot cops were called in to restore power back to the administration.
August 31, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Sanctions for UCI Sit-in; 1 suspended « occupy california
[…] comes after the decision to suspend the Muslim Student Union for one year and three of the five UCI students charged for participating in the Cal State Fullerton Humanities […]
February 3, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Bob Paulson
It is very apparent that only muslim students should have the right to speak and opinons contrary to their train of thought or beliefs should not be heard. Tolerance is not part of their “religion” and should only be forced upon those who disagree with their precepts. Muslims blame everyone but themselves for their laziness and genetically inherited stupidity. I, like many real Americans, are getting tired of their demands for respect when they do nothing to deserve it. Islam is a cancer and will be irradiated just like most other cancers.