During the Oct. 30 Student Association session, Oswego State junior Ariel Gutman-Gates brought forth concern during public comment regarding the rhetoric of a brochure found in The Point, where student clubs and organizations are based.
A stack of the brochure, titled “Is Concern About Jihad Terror Just ‘Islamophobia’?,” was found by Gutman-Gates and others on top of the desk of the College Republicans club in The Point, but belongs to the Young Americans for Freedom club, according to Tyler Toomey, president for both organizations.
Gutman-Gates addressed Student Association after around 60 students had come to him over a span of three weeks to tell him they felt uncomfortable and unsafe with the content being distributed on campus. He referred to the Student Association bylaws, which state that no SA funded club or organization can be discriminatory to other students, and he requested looking into defunding the organization distributing the brochure.
“There were visual images of terrorist attacks constantly throughout this entire [brochure], talking about Islam, and it is very apparent this is not something that someone being of the Muslim faith would pick this up and go, ‘Oh, this is OK,’” Gutman-Gates said during public comment. “The Point is a place for student leaders. Is that the kind of imagery we want for our student leaders? Absolutely not.”
Young Americans for Freedom, although recognized by Student Association, is not yet eligible to receive a budget and has not requested money from the contingency fund. It was recognized just last semester and will not be funded until next semester, according to Student Association Director of Finance Miranda Kryskow. If found to be discriminatory, SA could vote to unrecognize the club.
“The first part of our constitution says that no funded organization shall be discriminatory based on pretty much anything,” Kryskow said. “It would certainly have to be looked at by the court in order to review the case and deem it discriminatory before actual defunding of an organization can happen, but as of right now, the Young Americans for Freedom are not currently a funded organization in any way shape or form.”
The brochure contains excerpts from the Quran and analyzes that “Islam is a threat to women… gays… Jews… Christians… secular liberals…[and] secular Muslims.”
Toomey said the goal for Young Americans for Freedom is to provoke thought, conversation and debate on controversial topics so both sides can grow. He said the organization distributed the brochures during the organization’s 9/11 memorial after they received a box of them from the national organization and has not personally heard of any concern from them. He said even though he does not agree with every single point, he finds the content has “some good points.”
“Most of the things that could be seen as down putting or offensive are coming right from [Muslims’] holy book,” Toomey said. “The point of this is not saying that all Muslims are terrorists. We are talking about people that actually are terrorists and are bad people. You can be a Christian and be a terrorist; you can be Jewish and be a terrorist…You have to be able to separate terrorist from Muslim.”
Toomey said he would encourage students concerned by the rhetoric of the brochure to attend a Young Americans for Freedom meeting to express where they disagree and find where they can agree.
“Everyone has a right to free speech, and hate speech is covered by free speech in this country, but with that responsibility of free speech in all forms comes the concomitant responsibility to support, include and welcome the people and especially your peers around you,” said SA President Omar van Reenen.
Photo by: Maria Pericozzi | The Oswegonian
