Mohammed Cartoon Controversy: FIRE Response to Intimidation and Newspaper Disputes

Case Materials

• "Editor Fired for Printing the Mohammed Cartoons Speaks Out," May 10, 2006: One of the highlights of FIRE’s year is its Summer Internship Program, and 2006 will be no exception. This year, FIRE received a record number of applications and will be pleased to host 14 extraordinary interns, 11 undergraduates and three law students. Notably, one of the interns will be Acton H. Gorton, a U.S. Army veteran and senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Gorton made headlines earlier this year when he was terminated as the editor of his university’s daily newspaper for publishing some of the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. Today, he tells his story exclusively on FIRE’s blog, The Torch.
• "‘USA Today’ on FIRE and the Mohammed Cartoons," April 19, 2006: USA Today this morning features a piece by Nat Hentoff, noted columnist and member of FIRE’s Board of Advisors, discussing the Danish Mohammed cartoon controversy on America’s campuses. In the article, “‘Free speech’ cries ring hollow on college campuses and beyond,” Hentoff focuses on shameful instances of censorship at Minnesota’s Century College and at New York University—both cases in which FIRE was involved. The column is particularly timely in light of FIRE’s letter to NYU yesterday asking President John Sexton to publicly repudiate the university’s censorship of a discussion about the cartoons and to live up to the university’s promises of freedom of expression.
• "NYU Shamefully Censors Cartoon Panel Discussion," March 30, 2006: Yesterday, FIRE announced that New York University (NYU) was planning to squelch a panel discussion on the Danish cartoons of Mohammed by requiring that the panel’s organizers choose either to exclude over 150 registered off-campus guests or to agree not to show the Danish cartoons. While the event was held last night with what students called their largest crowd ever, NYU did not allow the cartoons to be shown or allow all of the off-campus guests to attend. Instead, students were forced to display easels with blank panels. FIRE President Greg Lukianoff, who took part in the discussion, noted, “Those blank easels were a testament to campus repression and a climate of fear.” More coverage is available on FIRE’s blog, The Torch.
• "NYU Surrenders to the Heckler’s Veto in Mohammed Cartoon Dispute," FIRE Press Release, March 29, 2006: In violation of its own policies, New York University (NYU) is refusing to allow a student group to show the Danish cartoons of Mohammed at a public event tonight. Even though the purpose of the event is to show and discuss the cartoons, an administrator has suddenly ordered the students either not to display them or to exclude 150 off-campus guests from attending. FIRE is urging NYU’s president to reverse course and stand up for freedom of speech.
• "New York University Student Guide, Chapter 9," March 29, 2006
• "E-mail from NYU Director of Student Activities Robert Butler to Student Kara Zavarella, March 28, 2006," March 28, 2006
• "E-mail from NYU Director of Student Activities Robert Butler to NYU Students, March 27, 2006," March 27, 2006
• "Minnesota Prof Censored for Posting Mohammed Cartoons," FIRE Press Release, March 9, 2006: The uproar over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed may be fading in some places, but not at Century College in Minnesota. After repeatedly encountering censorship of her display of the cartoons on a hallway bulletin board, Professor Karen Murdock finally posted them behind a curtain so that passers-by would not be offended. Yet even after assuring Murdock and FIRE that free speech is valued at Century, administrators allowed censors to tear down the hidden cartoons and insisted that she not put them back up.
• "Posted Request to Remove Curtained Cartoons at Century College, March 1, 2006," March 1, 2006
• "Professor Karen Murdock’s Bulletin Board Postings (Cartoons Obscured by Curtain)," February 28, 2006: These photographs show the warning signs and curtain that Professor Karen Murdock installed on or next to hallway bulletin boards in order to prevent passers-by from unintentionally viewing the controversial cartoons depicting Mohammed.
• "Mohammed Cartoon Controversy Sweeps the Academy," FIRE Press Release, February 22, 2006: The global controversy over cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed has now struck American college campuses. In response, FIRE is reminding colleges and universities that free speech needs protection now—in the face of ongoing controversy—more than ever.
• "FIRE Statement on Cartoons Depicting Mohammed," Greg Lukianoff, February 22, 2006: FIRE offers its help to universities who need assistance explaining to critics why even controversial expression must be tolerated. We are also aware of universities where the response may not have been as judicious and we offer our help to students and faculty members who face censorship in its many forms. As we have always done, we are prepared to defend, with every resource at our disposal, the rights of students and faculty whose free speech has been denied.
• "Cartoons Depicting the Prophet Mohammed," February 22, 2006: FIRE reprints here the images at the center of the controversy.
• "Letter from Century College Vice President of Academic Affairs John O'Brien to Karen Murdock, February 16, 2006," February 17, 2006
• "Letter from Century College Vice President of Academic Affairs John O'Brien to FIRE, February 17, 2006," February 17, 2006
• "Prophet cartoon on door prompts action," Aaron Brown, Chicago Maroon, February 17, 2006
• "FIRE Letter to Century College President Lawrence Litecky, February 16, 2006," February 16, 2006
• "STAFF EDITORIAL: Mind the Gap," The Communicator (Purdue Univ.), February 15, 2006
• "Salient Publishes Danish Cartoons," Dan Rasmussen, The Harvard Crimson, February 14, 2006
• "School editors say they were suspended for running Islamic cartoons," David Mendell, Chicago Tribune, February 14, 2006
• "More Than Cartoons," Lydia Roy, Northern Star (Northern Illinois Univ.), February 13, 2006
• "Sacred images, sacred rights," The Badger Herald (UW-Madison), February 13, 2006
• "Letter from Muslim students at Century College to Chief Academic Officer John O’Brien, February 13, 2006," February 13, 2006
• "E-mail from Century College President Lawrence Litecky to the Century College Community, February 10, 2006," February 10, 2006
• "Mohammed cartoon backlash hits Century College," Tom Ford, Star Tribune (Minneapolis–St. Paul), February 10, 2006:  
• "Cartoon Controversy in Chapel Hill," Amber Rupinta, abc11tv.com, February 10, 2006
• "Political Cartoon," Abbey Golden, Arizona Daily Wildcat, February 7, 2006

Media Coverage

• "When Speech Becomes a Crime," Cinnamon Stillwell, San Francisco Chronicle, June 28, 2006: It seems that putting forward a political or religious viewpoint on campus that is considered politically incorrect is now grounds for persecution and possible expulsion. Students have found themselves so beleaguered by what often appear to be politically motivated witch hunts that they have felt the need to turn to organizations such as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education for legal assistance.
• "U.S. media response to cartoons skewered," Margaret Ramirez and Gerry Doyle, Chicago Tribune, April 26, 2006: Panelist Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said the issue was simple: Journalists are afraid. "There's a lot of dishonesty" in the media's explanation for not displaying the cartoons, he said. "Nobody has a right not to be offended."
• "'Free speech' cries ring hollow on college campuses and beyond," Nat Hentoff, USA Today, April 19, 2006: Century College's administration — and indeed, all who wither amid such free speech controversies — should welcome a challenge from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thought that we hate."
• "Speech codes choke off discourse, satire," Jason Doré, The Daily Reveille (Louisiana State Univ.), April 6, 2006: The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education currently gives LSU’s speech code a rating of red. According to the FIRE Web site, a red-light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech. The University’s harassment policies are singled out as a threat to speech on the FIRE rating Web site.
• "The image of hypocrisy," Harvey Silverglate, The Boston Phoenix, March 29, 2006: As Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, has noted, these “cartoons are almost certainly the most relevant and newsworthy cartoons in history. One would be hard-pressed to come up with other cartoons or even images that have resulted in so much controversy, death, and international strife.”
• "Images offensive to Muslims are debated," Matthew Hay Brown, Baltimore Sun, March 14, 2006: "There is no right not to be offended," Mitchell, a program officer with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, told an audience of about 80 last night at the Johns Hopkins University. "Having your most deeply held convictions questioned doesn't destroy you. It doesn't turn you into a child. It makes you question why you have them. That's good for us. That's why we come to college."
• "College Urged to Stop Censoring Prof's Display of Muslim Cartoons," Jim Brown, Agape Press, March 13, 2006: Advocating on Murdock's behalf, FIRE wrote to Century College President Lawrence Litecky, stating that the school's "responsibility to free speech and open inquiry far outweighs any responsibility the college has to avoid offense" and that Murdock could not be punished for posting the drawings.
• "Professor Fears Retribution Over Mohammed Cartoons," Nathan Burchfiel, Cybercast News Service, March 10, 2006: Lukianoff said the school has a duty "to protect speakers from being silenced by others" and that administrators "need to understand that their first duty is to promote the open exchange of ideas on their campus, not to cater to those who would prefer silence on provocative matters."
• "Professor censored over Muhammad cartoons," World Net Daily, March 10, 2006: Stated Murdock: "We are a college. We are supposed to be a forum for the free exchange of ideas. If we can't talk about this controversy at a college, where are we supposed to talk about it? We are supposed to be able not merely to deal with controversy but actually to welcome it!"
• "Specifics on Max P. cartoon incident still cloudy," Hassan S. Ali, Chicago Maroon, February 24, 2006: In drawing the line between free speech and hate speech, Mitchell echoed Ali’s sentiments based on his own experiences with FIRE. “Nobody’s ever said free speech is neat,” Mitchell said. “The best way to fight hateful speech is by more speech.”
• "Objectivists host panel on Danish cartoons," Laura Bishop, Chicago Maroon, November 29, 2009: Entitled “Free Speech and the Danish Cartoons,” the panel event featured speakers Yaron Brook, president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute; Tom Flynn, the editor of Free Inquiry magazine; and Greg Lukianoff, the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

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