Free Speech Advocacy Organization Condemns Catholic University After Event Approval Controversy

By Patrick D. Lewis

One of the country’s leading free speech advocacy nonprofits has issued a letter to Catholic University’s administration following a University decision to deny a student club’s speaker request.

The incident began when CUA’s chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) requested approval for two speakers from the Center for Student Engagement (CSE). Those speakers were Congressman Randy Fine, who has made anti-Muslim remarks in the past and has been condemned by the Congressional Jewish Caucus in the past, despite being Jewish himself, and Israeli official Dany Tirza, who led efforts to fence off Israeli settlements within the West Bank. 

Senior nursing major Felipe Avila, CUA SSI’s founder and president, and a long-controversial figure on campus, said the University denied those requests. He told Inside Higher Education that university student life officials told him that he needed to have more balance in the events he was planning in order to receive approval, which he was quoted as calling “part of a pattern of discrimination and unequal treatment.”

Avila did not reply to a request for comment from The Tower. 

In a statement, the University said it “stands firmly against antisemitism. The safety and dignity of our Jewish students—and every member of our community—is a responsibility we take seriously. Antisemitism is real, and we are committed to confronting it in ways consistent with our Catholic mission and belief in the dignity of every human person.

“It is for this reason that the University did not simply deny Students Supporting Israel the opportunity to host a conversation on this topic. Our written response explicitly invited Students Supporting Israel to submit a restructured proposal with a balanced presentation that would include a variety of voices addressing antisemitism and the responsibilities of all members of our community to create a campus climate that promotes a consistent commitment to upholding the dignity of all human persons. That offer remains open.”

Karna Lozoya, CUA Vice President for University Communications, told The Tower, “The University’s intent was not to prevent the event. Our offer to allow the group to restructure it was an exception to our normal practice. We made that offer because we understand the importance of this topic and genuinely wanted to find a workable path. We recognize that we did not clearly articulate that intent.”

A university official told The Tower that the school is currently considering re-evaluating its student club event and speaker approval process, but that its position on balanced events remains the same.

On Wednesday, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, better known as FIRE, sent a letter to CUA President Peter Kilpatrick and General Counsel Matthew Dolan, which it published on its website. The organization said in the letter that it was “concerned” by the decision, which it said “contravenes CUA’s stated commitment to free expression on campus.” The letter went on to say, “SSI’s choice of speakers to host and to exclude is protected expression under CUA’s rules…Unless CUA means to assert that a speaker presenting a rise in antisemitism as a troubling trend is somehow expressing a view counter to the Church’s ‘clear and unambiguous official teaching,’ it is unclear how this provision offers any basis for CUA’s rejection of SSI’s events, and no such explanation of this conflict was given to SSI.”

Jessie Appleby, a program counsel with FIRE, said in an interview with The Tower, “We are hoping that the university will respond and is willing to speak with us. We’re happy to explain more, to them, our concerns regarding their actions.

“Ultimately, we would like them to reverse course, to approve the requested events, and publicly assure the students that student organizations can continue to host events on campus without the university intervening to alter the viewpoints expressed at those events,” she continued. 

Appleby said FIRE “would not intervene” in a situation if a private university did not guarantee free speech. However, she said she believes she has a “voluntarily adopted commitment to free speech,” which means FIRE sees the school’s actions as having violated its own policies. Appleby said, “The university then has both legal and moral obligation to live up to the policies it sets for itself… the District of Columbia does recognize that the written policies of a university constitute the terms of the contract between enrolled student and the university itself.”

However, Appleby said FIRE is not currently considering any kind of legal action against Catholic University. “We would very much like to speak with administrators and work with them so that, hopefully, the policies adopted and the way those apply do respect student free speech going forward.”

She said, as of Friday afternoon, FIRE has not heard anything from CUA in response to its letter, but she “has every reason to think they will respond.”

FIRE is not the only organization to take notice of the incident. On Tuesday, Leo Terrell, a Department of Justice senior official and long-time conservative TV and radio personality, posted about it online, leading to concerns that the federal government could become involved.

In a statement, a university spokesperson said, “The Catholic University of America welcomes people of all faiths, and stands firmly against antisemitism. We take seriously the safety and dignity of our Jewish students and every member of our community. Antisemitism is repellent and dangerous. We are committed to confronting it in ways consistent with our Catholic mission and belief in the dignity of every human person.

“We have invited Students Supporting Israel to submit a restructured proposal, and to work within University processes to host a thoughtful conversation. As a private, religious institution, Catholic University is well within its rights to approve or deny any speaker request. We remain committed to finding a path forward with SSI.”