Posted on 08/27/2017 7:20:03 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
A newsletter posted on the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) campus started to make the rounds on social media Thursday. It states veterans should be banned from four-year universities. Several viewers asked 11 News to look into the origin of the newsletter.
The letter states military veterans should be banned from classes and compares the military culture to white supremacist groups.
The newsletter is titled "Social Justice Collective Weekly" and says it is the first issue. A spokesperson for UCCS said the newsletter has nothing to do with the school and does not represent the institution's views. However, it was reportedly approved by the university and posted on a bulletin board. The school says anyone is allowed to post items on the board.
On Friday, the chancellor issued a statement.
It reads in part:
"This flyer stands at the intersection of two core values for UCCS and higher education.
On the one hand, we recognize the right of people to express their viewpoints, even when those viewpoints are offensive to many in our community. The University of Colorado system adheres to the freedoms embodied in the United States Constitution, which include the freedom of speech contained in the First Amendment.
In doing so, we draw guidance from the words of the United States Supreme Court, which recently reaffirmed that speech touching on social and political matters is within the bounds of constitutional protection. When speech is a matter of public concern, even though it is racist or sexist, it “cannot be restricted simply because it is upsetting or arouses contempt” and we “must tolerate insulting, and even outrageous, speech in order to provide adequate ‘breathing space’ to the freedoms protected by the First Amendment.” I reject the notion that we should censor those who denigrate others, as censorship would have silenced many voices over the decades who needed to be heard.
On the other hand, respect for the right of someone to speak should never be taken as endorsing the viewpoints that someone has expressed. The viewpoints that the authors express are against the law. UCCS does not discriminate against veterans. But even more fundamentally, UCCS does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, creed, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or political philosophy. People earn the right to study at UCCS by virtue of hard work and individual effort, and we do not bar the door.
Beyond the fact that the authors’ position is illegal, it is also wrong."
To read the full statement from the chancellor, click here.
The university explained while this group is not affiliated with the college, they say it is free speech and the group can post what they want.
The article says veterans should be banned from UCCS and other four-year colleges. It also generalizes veterans and says they are unsympathetic to the LGBTQ community. The article says all veterans have far right-wing ideologies.
"They [the authors of the letter] try and talk about inclusion as a principle," said UCCS student Joe Hollmann. "Yet, they're excluding one of the most important members of society, those that are guarding our freedom to even talk about this."
"There's a lot of hate in the world," said fellow UCCS student Caleb Hensley. "You can't fight hate with hate." All of the students 11 News interviewed on campus disagreed with the stance the letter takes. The newsletter was also in the library and other places, but students have been taking them down.
UCCS told 11 News the author is not a current student and couldn't confirm if they were previously enrolled. We emailed the address on the newsletter, but haven't heard back as of Friday morning. The author is listed in the article as Terry Steinawitz. UCCS said there is not a student by that name, and 11 News wasn't able to find any records of anyone who goes by that name in Colorado. According to email responses to 11 News viewers by the editors of the letter, they say they are using fake names to protect themselves.
The newsletter reads as follows:
"A four-year, traditional university is supposed to be a place of learning, of understanding, of safety and security. However, there is an element among us who may be frustrating those goals: Veterans.
UCCS is known for its number of veterans who are full and part-time students. But these veterans of much of the school prides themselves on may be hurting the university.
First off, many veterans openly mock the ideas of diversity and safe spaces for vulnerable members of society. This is directly in contradiction to the mission of UCCS. Many veterans utter the mantra that they, "do not see color". But the problem lies in their socialization into the military culture that is that of a white supremacist organization. They have been permanently tainted, and are no long fit for a four-year university.
Second, many students are frightened by the presence of veterans in their classrooms. Veterans usually have an overwhelming presence in the classroom, which can distract other students. This is usually true for vulnerable individual such as LGBTQQI2SAA, who have been known to be the butt of insensitive jokes made by veterans.
Finally, veterans usually are associated with extremists right-wing groups such as the tea party and the NRA. In order to provide a safe place for all students, extremist right-wing groups must be suppressed on campus. This would include their followers: veterans. That is not to say that veterans should not be allowed an education. Veterans should be allowed to attend trade schools, or maybe even community college. But, in order to protect our academic institutions we must ban veterans from four-year universities."
Burn. It. Down.
How many people on campus even pay attention to this crap..
If you have a campus with 10,000 students..and a couple hundred show up???
And half probably do not goto the college
I don't even know where to start with this. Some people think the liberals are only after the Confederate military. Truth is many of them think the same about our current military.
Progressives should be banned from polite society, unemployable, and get no welfare.
Are they rally putting themselves in peril?
It’s rather obvious that there are no consequences or legal ramifications for communists/anarchists actions, they have been given a free hand by the Press, federal and state and local governments to attack and destroy our culture, our freedom of speech,freedom of assembly, our livelihoods, and assault people and destroy property.
Dissent with the marxist propaganda and activities is no longer tolerated.
We have no soldiers.
The Founders didn’t know about modern automatic weapons so the second doesn’t cover them.
The Founders didn’t know about TV, Radio, or the internet so the 1st doesn’t cover them.
Same same, right?
They better not say that out loud what with the Air Force Academy right up the road.
I agree. And all federal money should leave the university as well. No Pel Grants, no federally backed loans, no federally funded research, no federal money of any kind.
Let’s ban leftist panty-wastes. A much better idea. Let the turds drop to the bottom of the ocean.
California did just the opposite, they repealed a law prohibiting communists and seditionists from traching in schools.
> Anyone can post. He is a liar. Let some far right group try to post and see how fast it gets rejected. <
Yep. And it doesn’t even have to be a far right group.
Liberal speech is free speech.
Marxist speech is free speech.
Anarchist speech is free speech.
Conservative speech is hate speech.
> And er, what if they’re black or hispanic? <
I wish they’d come up with some sort of ranking system. It would make things easier to follow.
For example, Muslims throw gays off of rooftops, And they mutilate women. And the liberals say nothing. So Muslims outrank both gays and women.
But other match-ups would be tricky. Consider lesbian police officers and “undocumented” immigrants who admire Confederate statues. Who trumps who in the liberal playbook?
Or federal funds. Let’s just ban all federal funds.
lol
It hurt my head thinking about it :)
Muslim American soldier?
I DO fear that this is quickly turning into a fascist country even though our president is everything a fascist is not.
I dont know how that can happen. I dont know what Trump can do about state statues and universities.
Lawsuits!! To the SCOTUS!! We’ll win there. I think.
Identity politics is for morons.
Attention veterans: please stay away from the butts of LGBTQQI2SAAEIEIO people. Thank you.
I wonder what would have happened if someone posted that people on welfare should not be attending the college. I bet the chancellor would not be so accepting of it as free speech.
veterans should have preference over snowflakes, they have been in positions of responsibility and are grownups. They are there to learn not whine.
veterans should have preference over snowflakes, they have been in positions of responsibility and are grownups. They are there to learn not whine.
University of Colorado Colorado Springs 1984 club members.
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