Seven members of the Student Senate ended a scheduled discussion of the controversy surrounding The Insurgent’s publication of Jesus cartoons Wednesday night when they walked out of a meeting in protest.
The walkout caused an uproar by the senators who stayed and other students concerned with the issue, many of whom criticized the leadership of those elected members of student government and called the officials hypocrites for limiting free speech.
Student Senator Dallas Brown planned on proposing a resolution at the meeting that would have condemned The Insurgent’s publication because he said it was aimed to offend, not educate, and because of what he called its pornographic images. He planned to ask the Senate to freeze this year’s remaining funds or next year’s funds if the student fee-funded program did not apologize.
The Senate decided against a resolution, but voted to put the topic on the agenda and discuss it near the end of the meeting. While on a five-minute recess, seven senators, including Senate President Stephanie Erickson and Vice President Sara Hamilton, left the meeting.
Erickson said afterward that she walked out because the discussion violated University and student government rules and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires officials to be viewpoint neutral in dealing with the content of student fee-funded programs.
“I didn’t want to participate in a discussion that would limit free speech on campus,” Erickson said.
Brown said he was not offended by the content of the publication, which included images of Jesus on the cross with an erection, but he said students shouldn’t have to pay for the publication of images and articles that were aimed to offend them.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me to tax students … if the only intent of the people receiving the money is to offend other people,” he said.
He was one of the many students to call the senators who walked out hypocrites.
“They claim they’re protecting free speech by walking out; they’re ultimately limiting free speech. They’re limiting my ability to go in and tell people what the resolution is about,” he said.
Adam Walsh, the former ASUO president as of today, said he disagreed with the resolution against The Insurgent but called senators “despicable” for walking out.
“I think that walking out and stifling free speech and in the name of free speech is utterly hypocritical and ridiculous,” he said.
Senator Richard Malena wrote in a statement that he walked out because it is his opinion that Brown’s proposed sanctions against The Insurgent were prohibited by the Supreme Court.