Free Republic

Alberto Gullaba Jr. was the type of author that publishers dream of having in their catalogs. A first-generation college grad, a child of working-class immigrants, and the recent recipient of a Master of Fine Arts degree from the prestigious University of California, Irvine, program, Gullaba was a debut novelist with a gift for visceral and vivid prose. His first book, University Thugs, had all the makings of a smash hit. A work of character-driven literary fiction steeped in immersive vernacular, it tells the story of a young black man named Titus who is trying to make his way at an...

Dr. Aaron Kheriaty reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic like many other medical experts. He worked long hours as the United States tried to grapple with the new disease. He had too many conversations with family members whose loved ones were dying from it.But as time wore on, he started noticing a pattern in public health decisions that seemed to diverge from traditional medical ethics, including an insistence that people at little risk from COVID-19 get a vaccine.Kheriaty is now on suspension from the University of California, Irvine, (UCI) and challenging the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in court.“I had to stand...

The University of California, Irvine has placed their Director of Medical Ethics, Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, on 'investigatory leave' after he challenged the constitutionality of the UC's vaccine mandate in regards to individuals who have recovered from Covid and have naturally-acquired immunity.Last month Kheriaty, also a Professor of Psychiatry at UCI School of Medicine, filed a suit in Federal court over the mandate."Natural immunity following Covid infection is equal to (indeed, superior to) vaccine-mediated immunity. Thus, forcing those with natural immunity to be vaccinated introduces unnecessary risks without commensurate benefits—either to individuals or to the population as a whole—and violates their...

In 2016 I couldn't vote for Donald Trump. I wrote about it. When people asked me about Trump vs. Clinton I responded, "You can't trust either one of them." When Trump claimed a pro-life platform, I didn't believe he'd follow through. I made a bet with my friend, Troy Newman (no relation), president of Operation Rescue and an ardent Trump supporter. If three standards were met, I would publicly recant my position. Trump would have to: reinstate the Mexico City Policy, place judges willing to overturn Roe v. Wade on the Supreme Court, and defund Planned Parenthood. I didn't get...

The Western intelligentsia just can’t get enough of hating Western civilization. The Western intelligentsia’s capacity for self-flagellation and self-hatred seems to be endless. Jack Miles, Religion News Service tell us, is “author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘God: A Biography’ and a retired professor of religion at the University of California Irvine, now offers an erudite and highly readable close reading of Allah’s real nature.” Miles’ “erudite” take on Allah is that the god of the Qur’an is “more merciful” and “more moral” than the God of the Bible. Miles is, of course, being feted and celebrated for this in all...

A new lawsuit from a University of California health worker says her union won’t let her quit. Liliana Hernandez, who works in patient billing for UC Irvine’s health system, argues in her lawsuit that AFSCME Local 3299 is still collecting dues from her despite her repeated attempts to separate. And she wants to kill a state law that requires government to defer to union rules on such matters. She and her attorneys contend the slow response from her union and her employer violates the Supreme Court’s June decision in Janus vs. AFSCME banning public-sector labor organizations from collecting any kind...

The peculiar indifference of UC administrators, police and Jewish organizations. [Editor's note: To help push back against the enforcement of Islamic blasphemy laws on the American campus, support the Freedom Center's campaign Stop University Support for Terrorists.] As Americans, we support everyone's right to freedom of speech and to peacefully protest, but we are also aware that disruption is distinct from protest. Interference with a public event deprives those in attendance of their own right to free speech and assembly. When this line is crossed, protestors become disruptors. In California, disrupting public events is a violation of penal code 403....

Finally, a mass demonstration was called-off because students again couldn’t agree on what to demonstrate against. Some even balked at repeating the chant that they were asked to recite at the planned protest. ... Student Robert Gardner expressed his unhappiness over the “trauma some of the organizers made…It was really hurtful to have other marginalized identities silenced because a small fringe of organizers decided that their oppressions are more important (talk about Oppression Olympics)…” Gardner added that he did not “appreciate one of the organizers calling my friend a b---- because of the chants she was told to say.”

College protesters at the University of California-Irvine recently staged a “Blue Lives Don’t Matter” protest. […] Dozens of students at the school disrupted a discussion on police-community relations, chanting: “No justice, no peace—take to the streets; [expletive] the police”. They called for the end of the campus police department, [Elizabeth] MacDonald said. …

The UC Irvine Republicans have been suspended for an entire year after they informed the administration of their plans to schedule another event on campus with Breitbart senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos.

An angry anti-Israel mob at the University of California at Irvine chased a Jewish student into a building while chanting anti-Semitic epithets after she tried to attend a campus screening of an Israeli documentary last Wednesday, the Observer reported. Second-year Eliana Kopley was attempting to enter the showing of the Israeli documentary "Beneath the Helmet" about the IDF when a crowd of protesters physically obstructed her and chased her into an adjacent building. The angry mob proceeded to pound intimidatingly on the windows and doors while shouting "Long live the Intifada!" and "F**k Israel!" Kopley called the police, who escorted...

How is it that nearly fifteen (15) years after 9/11 none (ie ZERO) of the Islamic advisors to the United States government have shared with our leaders the Quranic concept of abrogation, the definition of “jihad” in sharia (Islamic Law), or the fact sharia obliges jihad until the entire world is under sharia? It is because sharia obliges Muslims to lie to non-Muslims when the goal is obligatory (eg Jihad), and makes it a capital crime for Muslims to teach other Muslims anything about Islam which is not a part of authoritative Islam. This means if American leadership wants to...

Pro-Palestinian activists turned violent last Wednesday night as they protested a pro-Israel movie screening at University of California, Irvine (UCI), and in the process hunted down a Jewish woman who was forced to hide and call for police rescue. At least 50 anti-Israel protesters from the Muslim Student Union and the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCI physically blocked the screening of “Beneath The Helmet,” a documentary about the IDF shown in an event hosted by Students Supporting Israel at UCI as part of a series of Peace Week events. The protesters blocked the exits to the...

A holy war of conquest and extermination is being waged against America and the West, against Christians and Jews, and against infidels generally. Iraq, Syria, Israel and the United States are among the prime targets of this war, which is being waged with a savagery by al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas that has shocked the world. But even more shocking than the barbarism of these groups is the fact that there are organizations on American campuses that support the agendas of these terrorists and spread their propaganda lies, and do so with the financial and institutional support of university administrations. Two...

Two weeks ago, a group of students at the University of California at Irvine removed a U.S. flag from a common area of the student-government suite. Shortly afterwards, six undergraduate members of the Legislative Council of the Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI) passed a resolution banning the display of the flags of any nation in the office lobby. The resolution was authored by student Matthew Guevara of the School of Social Ecology. Among the reasons the legislative council objected to the American flag were: “The American flag has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism.” “A common ideological understanding...

There’s a new f-word at the University of California at Irvine: FLAG. Higher education is teaching students to think critically all right — about their own country. In a head-shaking move even by California standards, a 12-member student government body voted to ban the display of the U.S. flag in certain lobby areas because it can be construed as “hate speech.” tony perkins frc The resolution’s text insists that “The American flag has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism. Flags not only serve as symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism, but also construct cultural mythologies and narratives...

A group of university professors has signed a letter showing their solidarity with students who tried to ban the American flag at the University of California, Irvine – because they said Old Glory contributes to racism. “U.S. nationalism often contributes to racism and xenophobia, and that the paraphernalia of nationalism is in fact often used to intimidate,” read a letter obtained by the website Campus Reform. Hundreds across the nation have signed the letter – including some U.C. Irvine professors, Campus Reform reported. "We admire the courage of the resolution's supporters amid this environment of political immaturity and threat, and...

As KCAL9’s Stacey Butler reports, vocal crowds gathered outside the student center at UCI on Tuesday evening. A student government meeting at UC Irvine scheduled for Tuesday evening was canceled due what school officials described as a violent threat. Officials would not specify the threat, but described it as a “viable threat of violence” that was serious enough to cancel the meeting, which was planned in response to a vote last week to ban the display of all flags before a higher student panel overturned it. The meeting this evening was to discuss overriding the veto, according to UCI spokeswoman...

State Republican lawmakers said they will introduce a constitutional amendment that would prohibit state funded colleges and universities from banning the American flag on campuses, a move that comes a week after a student government council at UC Irvine banned the flag from being displayed in a school lobby. UC Irvine’s broader student government body vetoed the controversial measure on Saturday. But, Sen. Janet Nguyen and fellow Republicans said they will move forward with the constitutional amendment. Nguyen and her family fled Vietnam as refugees, which Reeder said made the issue of banning the American flag personal. “For her it’s...

IRVINE, California — Students at the University of California Irvine (UCI) spoke to Breitbart News Sunday, sharing their shock and disappointment at recent legislation by six members of UCI’s Associated Students (ASUCI) to remove an American flag from their building’s lobby this past Thursday.