On the evening of April 22, 2015, the University of Maryland's Student Entertainment Events (SEE) announced the postponement of its showing of the 2014 hit blockbuster American Sniper. Pretty quickly, the University of Maryland announced on its Facebook page that it had no involvement in the postponement. Some criticized the university for separating itself from the action of its own student-run organization, accusing the university of trying to keep up the number of potential students applying, as well as to keep alumni donating.
The showing was postponed after the university's Muslim Student Association created an online petition that received over 350 signatures, claiming that the film is Islamophobic, and that it has “fueled anti-Arab and anti-Islamic sentiments". In the past three days, this controversial cancellation has generated many angry responses students and alumni, with some alumni even threatening, through Facebook comments, to stop giving money to the university. If UMD was trying to keep their alumni happy, they didn't do very well.
Whether or not you agree with this decision, it's quite surprising that this petition actually stopped the movie from playing, considering it generated only 358 signatures (as of April 26) on a 27,000 undergraduate campus. This brings me to one of the biggest complaints about UMD's decision, as seen in these Facebook comments.
How can SEE make such a largely controversial decision based on the opinions of 358 people? If there was a petition saying it shouldn't have been cancelled, it's likely that it would have garnered more signatures, in my opinion. In SEE's official announcement of the postponement of American Sniper, the organization discusses its new initiative to create open events where students can have the hard conversations that arise about these issues in the future, which is an awesome idea. However, SEE also states in its announcement that, “SEE supports freedom of expression and hopes to create space for the airing of opposing viewpoints and differing perceptions", which is confusing to me, considering that they postponed the movie, thus eliminating the airing of an opposing viewpoint (insert Kermit the Frog sipping tea here).
Additionally, UMD's recent non-involvement stance in every controversial issue, is getting old. The university cannot just separate itself from its student-run organization, which it can approve of, or dismantle, at any time. UMD seems to have some laissez-faire attitudes when it comes to controversial issues such as the recent hateful email that came to light, and now the showing of this film, which by the way, was nominated for six Academy Awards, and was the highest grossing film of 2014.
UMD has to realize that so many people come to this school due to the fact that they hear so many good things about UMD from alumni and current students. I love going to this university, as does everyone I know, so when prospective students ask me about how I like it, I tell them how great it is, and I'd like to believe that has an influence on their choice of college. If the university keeps making the students unhappy, by separating itself from its own students' actions, it's not going to garner such great recommendations from students anymore, and ultimately, UMD may lose its amazing, great-fit-for-everyone reputation. The students would rather have a university that makes decisions, no matter how popular or unpopular they may be, rather than one that separates itself from controversy, when the going gets tough.
