SWC Commends Orange County District Attorney Action on UC Irvine 11 Students

February 2, 2011

The Simon Wiesenthal Center commends the Orange County district attorney’s office for their action following last year’s February 8^th incident on the University of California at Irvine (UCI) campus where eleven students disrupted a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The District Attorney’s office subpoenaed and opened a grand jury investigation in the case.

Immediately following the incident, Campus Outreach Director Rabbi Aron Hier (R) reached out to UCI Chancellor Michael Drake, (L) -pictured in his office, and urged that Jewish students and officials should not feel victimized on campus.

As a result, Chancellor Drake and other UCI senior officials (pictured below) visited the Center’s Museum of Tolerance and participated in a Tools for Tolerance® seminar designed for professionals.

Officials from UC Davis, have also visited the Museum and participated in a similar program.

The Center additionally welcomed the initial decision by the administration of UCI to suspend the Muslim Student Union (MSU) for their disruption of the Ambassador’s speech. The decision came following an independent judicial report that found that the MSU had planned their action well in advance, a violation of UCI’s Principle of Community.

 

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