Florida Atlantic University Officals Shut Down and Harass YAF Campus Organizers for Discussing Liberal Bias on Campus
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2010 CONTACT: Jordan@yaf.com; 202-596-7923
Florida Atlantic University Officals Shut Down and Harass YAF Campus Organizers for Discussing Liberal Bias on Campus
Boca Raton, FL - On Wednesday March 3, 2010 at around 5:20pm Florida Atlantic University (FAU) campus officials shut down and called campus police on four students and an alumnus of FAU to stop an informational meeting about starting a conservative organization on campus
James Schackleford saw a need for a conservative club on campus and decided to start a Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter. Shackelford hosted and informational meeting with FAU alum and Florida YAF State Director Daniel P. Diaz discuss future activities of YAF on campus as well as around the state. While Diaz was speaking at the informational meeting David Blank, a university administrator, asked the group to leave the room. Diaz asked Blank for fifteen minutes to finish speaking and Blank politely agreed to allow the group to finish its meeting. Upon hearing Diaz addressing the liberal bias on the FAU campus Blank stopped the meeting again and boorishly ordered the students to vacate the meeting room; shut off the room lights, tore down the group’s promotional posters, and called the campus police.
Ben Buck, an FAU student at the meeting said “We were sitting in a peaceful meeting, just discussing a new organization, when we were approached by an administrator asking us to leave based on the content of our discussion regardless of previous verbal permission to talk on public property.”
While the FAU students and Diaz were leaving campus FAU police detained and interrogated the group. Shackelford and Diaz were ordered to drop their meeting materials and to present identification. Diaz asked if they had broken any laws the officer said “we are investigating a possible trespassing charge and that is why we need to see your identification.”
Officer Lieutenant Irving of FAU police, the third officer to arrive on the scene, upon Diaz’s request allowed Diaz to leave and had an officer follow Diaz to his car. As Diaz was leaving Lieutenant Irving commented to a fellow officer [referring to Diaz] “…that guy probably has tea bags hanging out the back of his car.”
Diaz said, “If we were a Marxist, Socialist or Liberal group they would have let us finish our meeting, but the university officials and police harassed us because we are conservatives.” Diaz added, “This was the exact liberal bias on campus that I was discussing in the meeting that these future YAFers experienced firsthand. The university is no longer a place of open discussion and freedom of expression, but a breeding ground of intolerance for conservative beliefs.”
YAF is the nation’s oldest and most recognized conservative / libertarian youth activist organization. Founded on September 11, 1960, in Sharon, Connecticut at the home of William F. Buckley, Jr., YAF is a non-profit organization engaged in advocating public policies and activism consistent with The Sharon Statement. For more information call YAF’s national headquarters at 202-596-7923 or our visit our website at www.yaf.com.
Florida Contact:
Daniel P. Diaz, State Director, Florida YAF
Phone: 954-834-3429
E-mail danielpdiaz@rmcpacfl.com
###
No matter what others say, I think it is still interesting and useful maybe necessary to improve some minor things
You have really great taste on catch article titles, even when you are not interested in this topic you push to read it
Interesting take on this issue. I for one have seen many twists on this and can often spot the holes in the arguement however, on this occasion I belelive your writing is such that everyone should be in agreement with this. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you very much for the information great post, found it on Yahoo.
wow.. i’m very
enjoy reading your post. great.
thank! for this news it’s a good infomation !
Nice
very good information you write it very clean. I’m very lucky to get
this info from you.