Even apparent leftist professors have taken note of CSULA YAF’s upcoming lecture with Rick Santorum.
Former CSULA YAF member Ana Hernandez-Martinez posted an announcement about the event in the university’s “CSULA Book Exchange” Facebook group. It wasn’t long before leftists took notice, calling the YAFers “intolerant” for hosting a speaker to discuss religious liberty.
A woman who goes by the name “Emme Zee,” and is listed as a “Professor at California State University, Los Angeles,” jumped into the fray. When asked by CSULA YAF board member Kevin Amador if she was a professor, Ms. Zee responded in the affirmative. According to Ms. Zee’s instagram page, her full name is Marylu Castillo and she serves as an Academic Advisor and Admissions Coordinator for the Honors College at CSULA.
It’s not entirely surprising a CSULA staff member would use an alias online–Following the backlash Dr. Robert Weide received last year after threatening to wrestle CSULA YAF students, a number of CSULA professors have changed their names on social media.
Ms. Zee (aka Marylu Castillo) launched into a discussion with several students in the group after claiming that “you best believe us ‘leftist bigots’ will be there; good luck hearing him speak!” Later, she mentioned that she supports “her right to protest against his discriminative message and yours.”
This certainly isn’t the first time an alleged CSULA professor has taken to protesting student speech they disagree with. When CSULA YAF hosted Ben Shapiro last year, a number of professors, including the head of the Pan African Studies Department Melina Abdulla, organized a counter protest which barred students from entering the theater where the lecture was to take place.
Let’s hope Ms. Zee’s idea of “protest” is more of the peaceful variety. When asked if her colleagues would be attending. She responded, “Absolutely! But we are not engaging in discussion with him [Rick Santorum].” That’s certainly her choice not to engage in a respectful discussion, but why wouldn’t she? What’s the harm in allowing students to hear more than one viewpoint?
Rick Santorum will be speaking at California State University, Los Angeles at 3:00 pm on April 12th. Contact us for more details.