The College Fix

It’s official: the Berkeley College Republicans are the new Charlie Sheen. Attacked viciously by the public and media for deliberate social impropriety, BCR met its opposition head on and claimed absolute victory, on every front.

Results from the bake sale could not have been more positive. Former UC Regent Ward Connerly attended the event and helped BCR distribute its cookies and cupcakes. College Republicans from across the state came to Berkeley to support BCR. Over 1,000 students RSVP’ed to the event on Facebook. BCR sold about 300 cupcakes and 200 cookies, walking away with over $800 from the event–and customers were allowed to name their own prices. BCR also found itself on the receiving end of numerous unsolicited donations in support of the club. But most importantly, BCR got students, faculty, community members, and media alike to focus on SB 185, a bill that would permit California universities to discriminate on the basis of race and gender.

Campus Republicans burned through stacks of fliers. Handing out fliers may not be the most glamorous job, but anyone who has tried it knows how difficult it is. The bake sale was such a sensation that students sought out volunteers to obtain fliers, and within a few short hours, hundreds of fliers detailing the bake sale and SB 185 had been passed out. BCR ran out of fliering materials, with hours left in the bake sale–a titanic feat on a normally apathetic campus that often leaves volunteers holding almost as many fliers as they start the day with. What’s more, students were actually reading them, sparking public discussions about SB 185 on a scale current that students have never seen before.

Surprisingly, after reading the fliers and talking at length with each other and the College Republicans, many students who had initially derided the CRs as offensive and racist came to agree that the methods used were appropriate and effective in raising the issue of SB185, which had slipped completely under the public radar. A few students characterized the event as “tastefully tactless.”

More surprisingly, many of the students agreed that SB185 was wrongly passed, and that Governor Brown should veto the bill. And it’s not just students: the bake sale controversy triggered a state-wide poll that revealed that over three quarters of the state opposed any kind of ethnic or gender bias in the university system, and SB185 in particular. These results were nearly uniform across all demographic measures, from age to income, ethnicity to ideology.

Students also received a practical lesson in the value of free speech, with the Berkeley chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union erecting a “free speech wall” next to the College Republicans.

While the ACLU does not take a position on the content of the sale, ACLU member Michael Poon said of the event, “I believe the day was a great one for free speech. The point of free political speech is civic discourse, and the bake sale, inflammatory as it was, brought many people together to discuss the issues. Indeed, the event’s controversy helped many people gain awareness that SB 185 existed at all. Ultimately, the event caused many people to call Governor Brown on the issue, both for and against the bill. The legislative outcome will be a better representation of the California people’s will for it.”

Students wrote many of their opinions on the wall, including one young woman’s “Satire is free speech too. Read The Onion!”

Critics, including the student government and Cal Democrats, said BCR “went too far,” threatening to revoke BCR’s student group funding, and publicly condemning BCR in both the media and through a student government vote. Was anyone really surprised when the student government attacked the students protesting their malfeasance? Was anyone shocked when Democrats opposed successful Republicans by any means necessary? Headlines ought to have read, “Groups Express Outrage Over Republican Use of Poignant Analogy.”

But how far is too far? Had the Republicans “hosted a public forum,” no one would have attended, as evidenced by the nearly empty rooms every time such a topic is raised. Had they “led by example” by listing a uniform price rather than differentiating by race and gender, the message would not have been conveyed. BCR’s tactics achieved their objectives in a way nothing else could have.

And ironically, it was the agitation that caused the high turnout to the bake sale that enabled the “civil discourse” advocated by the bake sale’s opponents. Even most CRs were ignorant of SB185 until the ASUC phone bank supporting it was announced. By creating a controversy, the CRs succeeded in making SB185 controversial. The new attention to the bill, catalyzed by the BCR bake sale, enabled civil discourse on a scale BCR’s opponents can hardly dream of – though they are probably none too happy that the outcome of that discourse seems to be solidly in BCR’s favor.

Even if it had not been, at what point does freedom become subordinate to the emotions of groups that are predisposed to take offense at the slightest move of their adversaries? Berkeley is the home of the Free Speech Movement; it should never be associated with the Politically Correct Speech Movement. The United States Constitution famously declares, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” One would think the sorts of folks opposing BCR’s bake sale, including the proud feminists of Berkeley, would know that “no means no.” The Constitution guarantees an absolute right of free speech, and the University, student government, and other campus clubs are in no position to demand that the Republicans silence themselves.

Finally, the claim that the BCR bake sale “destroyed community” on campus could not be further from the truth. It called attention to racial bias in education, and brought the entire nation together to discuss how to solve this problem appropriately. It attracted students of diverse backgrounds and interests to a single corner of Sproul plaza to meet each other and find common ground. And it strengthened and unified the College Republicans, already lovingly referred to as “The Best Party on Campus.”

Andrew Glidden is a University of California, Berkeley, student and a contributor to The College Fix. A longer version of this column appeared elsewhere online.

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