“I am aware of the first amendment arguments that some have made,” University of Houston Student Government President Shane Smith said in a statement. “Yes, Rohini [Sethi] had a right to say what she did. Identically, students also have that same right to voice their complaints. The first amendment prevents a person from being jailed by the government for what they say. But the first amendment does not prevent people from receiving consequences for what they say, including workplace discipline.”
Smith was addressing the suspension of the student body’s vice president, Rohini Sethi, in retaliation for her daring to post on Facebook, “Forget #Black Lives Matter; more like #AllLivesMatter.”
Sethi made her post shortly after the murder of five police officers in Dallas by a man who expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Smith rightly said that students who disagreed with Sethi have the “right to voice their complaints.” But of course, only Sethi was punished for her Facebook post. Those who voiced disagreement with her comments that “#AllLivesMatter” were not punished. On the contrary, they were commended by the politically correct crowd.
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As breitbart.com reported, Sethi was apologetic for her words, but her apology wasn’t enough to appease the left-wing radicals of the Student Government:
“Thursday night as our nation recoiled in shock, I took to Facebook and shared in a way that was inappropriate given the context and my position,” she wrote on Faceboook. In that moment, I did not act as your Vice President, I acted, in my own flawed way, as many do when presented with a tragedy from afar. My response has caused enormous pain for many members of our community, and I think it is high time that I clarify my statement.”
She continued to explain saying, “Visually we are black, white, tan, and a hundred shades between but we are all human, thus I believe that all lives matter. Let’s all come together through conversations to reach unity. This is how we begin to set the standards for ourselves and our future, especially in times of adversity.”
And the punishment handed down by Smith, who was delegated the power by the student senate to decide Sethi’s sentence, was harsh. Her 50-day suspension as a student government leader means that she will lose her stipend during that time. For expressing criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, Sethi has also been ordered to attend a diversity seminar. If she fails to attend, she will be impeached and removed from office.
And, what is Sethi expected to “learn” at the seminar?
Known as the Libra Project diversity workshop, the seminar to be held this month will include such topics as Race Relations, White Privilege, LGBTQ rights, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Gender inequality, Racial profiling, “Harmless” off-color jokes, Black Lives Matter versus All Lives Matter, School to prison pipelines, Personal responsibility versus institutional oppression, Bias, Prejudice, Discrimination, and Aggression. Perhaps they just forgot to include topics about discrimination in hiring for Christians and conservatives on college campuses such as the University of Houston.
In addition, Sethi has been ordered to attend three cultural events each month, and write a reflection letter — in which one supposes it will be incumbent upon her to express proper re-education to progressive dogma. She will be expected to say she loves Big Brother.
Student senators certainly have learned that progressive dogma now includes delegating power to The Leader. By a vote of 14-2, with one abstention, the University of Houston student government empowered the president of the student body, Shane Smith, to punish Rohini Sethi as he wished.
Paul O’Brien was one student senator who was not happy with leaving it up to Smith to mete out any punishment he so desired. “We just gave him the one-time power to fire the only person in that office that could tell him no, which could last a day or the entire administration,” O’Brien asserted, adding that the power of the senate had been “undermined.” It reminds one of how the members of Congress routinely surrender their constitutional powers to the president, with such provisions as “fast-track authority” on trade deals, or open-ended authorizations for the president to use military force when, where, and how he wishes.
It even reminds one of President Barack Obama’s bragging that he has a “pen and a phone” to issue executive orders.
President Smith certainly appears convinced of his own importance in the world. “As with any decision I make,” he declared, “I will face significant criticism, both internally and externally. That comes with the job — this role isn’t meant for making simple decisions. Leadership is rarely easy or fun — it means determining what the right decision is and making it, regardless of whether the decision is popular.”
Good grief. One would think Smith had just made the awesome decision of when and where to send American troops to hit the beaches of Normandy. Referring to Sethi’s Facebook post, Smith conceded, “It is a fair point that one ignorant media post alone may not warrant such actions. However, serving in a public role means that we are held to a higher standard — and rightfully so.”
And it is simply ludicrous that Smith has made some heroic decision against what is popular. The person who made the unpopular statement at the University of Houston was Rohini Sethi, not Shane Smith. Smith even contradicts himself in his statement. In one instance, he gives the appearance that he had to make some courageous decision that might not be very popular; then in the next instance he says, “I think my responsibility is to do what the students ask and what the Senate believes is best.” So does this mean that if they passed a resolution saying, “All lives matter,” it would be his responsibility to carry out the will of the Senate? Is he saying that might makes right?
After Sethi made her post, the Black Student Union, along with Alpha Phi Alpha, a predominantly black fraternity, called for her resignation from student government. The Black Student Union, in a statement posted on Twitter, complained that Sethi’s post was dismissive of the Black Lives Matter movement, which they argued was just a social movement seeking equal protection under the law for people of color, especially at the hands of the police.
In reaction to the suppression of Sethi’s freedom of expression, the administration of the University of Houston issued a statement that appeared to contradict the harsh sanctions placed upon Sethi. “The University of Houston has become aware that the Student Government Association (SGA) has suspended its vice president, Ms. Rohini Sethi, from participating in SGA activities. Actions by SGA, a registered student organization subject to its own governance, are not University actions and do not affect the academic standing of a student at the University of Houston. The University of Houston continues to stand firm in support of free speech and does not discipline students for exercising their constitutional rights.”
To sum up this situation, student Rohini Sethi has been suspended, and may eventually be fired from her job, simply for expressing a political viewpoint that was unpopular with the majority of the members of the Student Government Association. Interestingly, back in the 1940s, those on the Left bemoaned that some writers, actors, directors, and others in the motion picture industry were placed on a “do not hire” list — The Hollywood Blacklist — simply because they were members of the American Communist Party.
As was known then, and is certainly known today, the American Communist Party was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Soviet Communist Party, run by the mass-murdering dictator Joseph Stalin. Yet, to hear modern leftists tell it, this was a horrible violation of the “rights” of these leftist motion picture professionals — to be fired or not hired for supporting a movement that had committed mass murder.
Compare that to the supposed offense of Rohini Sethi: Sethi said in response to the murders of Dallas police officers that “All lives matter.”
But this is typical hypocrisy of those on the Left. “The first amendment does not prevent people from receiving consequences for what they say, including workplace discipline,” asserted SGA President Shane Smith. To authoritarians such as Smith, freedom of speech means the freedom to parrot left-wing views.
