In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
MSA UCSD Denounces Recommendation to Suspend the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine

Muslim Student Association
University of California, San Diego

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(La Jolla, CA 6/15/2010) The Muslim Student Association (MSA) of UCSD denounces the recommendation by the University of California, Irvine (UCI) to suspend or ban the Muslim Student Union (MSU) of UCI. The MSU of UCI is actively appealing the recommendation by the Senior Executive Director of Student Housing. We call for the UCI Administration to accept the MSU's appeal and uphold the university values of free thinking and education.

The MSU of UCI is a student organization that advocates religious tolerance, social justice, human rights, and freedom of speech. The organization provides essential activities to Muslim students on the UCI campus. Daily congregational prayers are facilitated by MSU, as are weekly Friday prayers, a mandatory and essential prayer in the Islamic tradition. Along with religious services, the MSU offers the UCI community with various educational events such as its “Islam Awareness Quarter”. It reaches out to the youth in the surrounding areas and continues to strive for social justice around the world. The MSU collected $5000 to support those inflicted from the devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this year.

The recommendation to ban the MSU of UCI is a shameful attempt to undermine the Muslim students' right to associate on the UCI campus. With the recommendation of suspension, the MSU of UCI is unjustly isolated for the acts of few; their vigor to contribute to the education of the UCI student population is restricted and their freedom to express their beliefs and views on the UCI campus is limited.

We call upon the UCI administration to reject such a recommendation to suspend the rights, activity, and work of the MSU of UCI. We call upon the UC administration to uphold the principles of an open and public university, the right of student organizations to associate. We call upon the UCI administration to not succumb to any external pressure that may actively pursue the silencing of UCI student organizations and the further isolation of minorities on campus.

Muslim Student Association of UC San Diego
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
islam.ucsd.edu