Uh-oh. The brouhaha over the August invitation to Bill Maher to address UC Berkeley's December commencement has just taken a new turn.
Long known as a critic of all organized religion, Maher's outspoken criticism of Islam has not set well with Berkeley's Muslim community. His selection as a commencement speaker drew over 4,000 signatures demanding that the invitation be rescinded.
The student group that selected comedian Bill Maher to be the commencement speaker at the University of California at Berkeley has attempted to rescind the invitation after student backlash over some of Maher’s statements, but the university won’t allow it, school officials said Wednesday…..Graduating senior Taliah Mirmalek, 20, who has been participating in organizing against Maher’s appearance said today that she does not think students should be forced to listen to Maher speak if they think he is prejudiced against their religion.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/...
The UC admins are having none of it:
For many years it has been the responsibility of UC Berkeley undergraduates, through a committee known as the “Californians,” to select speakers for the university’s commencement ceremonies. In August the “Californians” chose Bill Maher as the speaker for the December commencement ceremony. However, last night the “Californians” reconvened without administration participation and came to a decision that the invitation should be rescinded.
The UC Berkeley administration cannot and will not accept this decision, which appears to have been based solely on Mr. Maher’s opinions and beliefs, which he conveyed through constitutionally protected speech. For that reason Chancellor Dirks has decided that the invitation will stand, and he looks forward to welcoming Mr. Maher to the Berkeley campus. It should be noted that this decision does not constitute an endorsement of any of Mr. Maher’s prior statements: indeed, the administration’s position on Mr. Maher’s opinions and perspectives is irrelevant in this context, since we fully respect and support his right to express them. More broadly, this university has not in the past and will not in the future shy away from hosting speakers who some deem provocative.
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http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/...
We have surely not heard the end of this. Will he speak or won't he? Or will the student protesters prevail? Is free speech threatened? Or should Bill Maher be shunned?