Last week St. Louis University informed student members of the Young America’s Foundation they were not allowed to use the words “radical Islam” on flyers promoting Lt. Col. Allen West‘s speech on campus.
University officials said Allen West, an Iraq War veteran, does not have enough experience with “radical Islam” to use the term.
Last week an administrator at Saint Louis University (SLU) informed students organizing a YAF-sponosred lecture by Lt. Col. Allen West they were not allowed to use the words “radical Islam” on any advertisements for the event.
The administrator also claimed West, who is a veteran of both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, does not “have experience with radical Islam.”
These comments were made after students submitted event flyers for approval and campus officials rejected their design due to the inclusion of the words “radical Islam.”
SLU students confirmed these details to Young America’s Foundation this week.The lecture, scheduled for September 29, is part of Young America’s Foundation’s Fred Allen Lecture Series that is bringing Lt. Col. West to campuses across the country this school year.
YAF activists will not back down in the face of challenges from politically correct campus bureaucrats.
Allen West will speak at SLU on Thursday night (tonight).
St. Louis University President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. released this statement condemning retired Lt. Col. Allen West for offending the Muslim Students’ Association.
As members of a Catholic, Jesuit University, we value and uphold the dignity of every person. I am pained that the members of our Muslim Students’ Association — our students — have been demonized by a retired lieutenant colonel, former congressman, and provocateur, who will be a guest of SLU’s College Republicans student organization on Thursday night.
I, for one, condemn the claims made against our students who belong to the SLU Muslim Students’ Association — people we study and live with and know to be peaceful, tolerant, and merely seeking what we all strive to obtain: a rigorous education, a good job, and a safe and secure future for themselves and their families. In recent days, many others and I have worked to hear and understand the pain our Muslim students and allies are feeling. Let me take this opportunity to remind these — and all — SLU students that I am in solidarity with you. Our University’s mission calls us to love and support each other.
