UCI Dems stand with CRs after suspension for hosting Milo

Left-leaning students at the University of California, Irvine have joined forces with their political counterparts to condemn the school’s recent decision to suspend the College Republicans (CR) from campus for over a year.

UCI’s “Anteaters for Bernie Sanders” announced on its Facebook page that the recent suspension of the CRs was “a clear demonstration of the repeated mistreatment of all political organizations” on campus, Breitbart reports.

Recently, the school’s CR chapter was informed that it would not be allowed to host events on campus or reserve meeting spaces, effectively rendering the group impotent since its essential function is to host speakers and hold routine meetings.

[RELATED: College Republicans suspended by UCI after hosting Milo]

The decision came just hours after CR President Ariana Rowlands suggested the possibility of bringing conservative pundit Milo Yiannopoulos back to campus—a figure whose events tend to upset college administrators.

[RELATED: DePaul president resigns amid Milo controversy, takes one year sabbatical]

The school continues to claim that the CRs were suspended for failing to issue proof of insurance for hired security guards set to protect Yiannopoulos during his first visit to campus.

The CRs, however, quickly ridiculed the decision as an affront to free speech, saying the administration had exploited a technicality to oust conservative views from campus and had made no prior mention of the penalty until CR members hinted at Yiannopoulos’ return.

[RELATED: Security guards fiddle while Milo event burns]

“This blatant display of bias against the University of California, Irvine College Republicans is shameful violation of these students’ civil liberties,” a CR national chairwoman commented in a press release. “Our nation’s universities, and particularly those that are taxpayer funded, ought to be places where a diversity of thought finds a comfortable home, rather than where unaccountable bureaucrats unfairly malign students based on a certain agenda.”

Now, the school’s Democratic students, in an uncommon instance of campus bipartisanship, have also chastised the administration in a statement obtained by Breitbart.

[RELATED: UCI attempts to walk back CR suspension following outrage]

“While we disagree with the College Republicans on a range of issues, the decision of the UC Irvine administration to suspend the campus club was a clear demonstration of the repeated mistreatment of all political organizations that take part in open discourse on campus,” the statement read. “We hereby firmly stand against this decision and are vehemently against the administration for their over-reaching bureaucracy. Effective immediately, we call for this decision to be overturned.”

While UCI recently told Campus Reform that Yiannopoulos would be welcomed back to campus, it is unclear where he would actually be allowed to speak.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AGockowski