In what seems like a repeat of 2017 events in which the university was sued and settled for its discrimination against conservative student organizations, on October 25th 2024, ASUC Senators released a statement announcing their intent to propose a resolution to bar conservative campus organizations from reserving spaces to host campus speakers. The proposed resolution, however, is clearly just the latest example in the all-too-predictable targeting, discrimination, and harassment of conservative students. In 2017, notable British political commentator Milo Yiannopolus was barred from speaking at the University hours before he was scheduled to take the stage. "Mostly peaceful" riots erupted. The events that followed would result in a successful lawsuit against the university led by Young Americans for Freedom on behalf of the Berkeley College Republicans. This increase in the targeting of conservative groups on campus at the time included the literal eradication of parts of the conservative community including the dissolving of The California Review's predecessor organization.
While the Michael Knowles flyers in question say "eradicate transgenderism", the reactions, including those from the ASUC and Chancellor Lyons claim that it calls for the elimination of transgender people. It does not take a Berkeley intellect to determine why they might choose to ignore the obvious distinction between the "eradication" of an "-ism" and injunctions for "killing" or even actual harassment or discrimination when campus hatred is invariably directed toward the conservative campus community.
The ASUC statement reads: “we have both observed a troubling increase in public hate speech on campus, particularly from Berkeley College Republicans. Their actions - including hosting speakers and events that promote devise rhetoric-have created an unsafe environment for the members of the LBGTQIA+ community… We are both committed to addressing this harmful behavior immediately. First we will be proposing a resolution to prevent any student organization from reserving campus space or allowing speakers to come on campus if their activities promote hate speech and an unsafe environment for any students. Additionally we are collaborating with the Queer Alliance Resource Center and the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination to ensure accountability and appropriate consequences for those who perpetuate hateful rhetoric and actions on our campus.”
The Berkeley College Republicans also released a statement, which reads: “Three weeks ago on October 7th, BCR hosted conservative speaker Michael Knowles on campus in an enormously successful event at UC Berkeley with a packed house. Now some ASUC senators have taken it upon themselves to issue condemnations of our first amendment protected activities…. Let this be a warning to the ASUC and campus administration, if any attempt to censor conservative students or thought happens on campus we will take every legal avenue available to us...”
The University Of California at Berkeley is a public land grant university which receives funding from the State of California and from the federal government. It is legally obligated to uphold free speech protections. Under the first amendment even speech that is vulgar, blasphemous, and hateful is protected.
The ASUC Senate hosts weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 8pm in the ASUC Senate Chambers (510 Eshleman Hall) located in the MLK Student Union Building. Meetings are also live streamed through Zoom and Facebook. Contributions can be made to the Berkeley College Republicans and to our organization, The California Review.
