Washington, DC | www.adc.org | July 27, 2010 -  This week the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), along with 14 other civil rights organizations and professional associations from across the nation, including the Asian Law Caucus, Center for Constitutional Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace, sent a letter to Chancellor Michael Drake at the University of California at Irvine ("UCI"), condemning the recommended suspension of the University's Muslim Student Union ("MSU").   UCI is considering suspending the MSU for allegedly coordinating the actions of 10 non-violent student protestors who interrupted the Israeli Ambassador's public speech in February.  The coalition letter can be read here.

The letter requests that the administration abandon any punitive measures against the Muslim Student Union and states that banning the group will memorialize UCI as a campus that violates its students' constitutional rights.  Signatories to the letter include the following organizations: Asian Law Caucus, Afghan-American Bar Association, American Muslims for Palestine, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Arab Resource & Organizing Center, Center for Constitutional Rights, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Council on American-Islamic Relations - California, Jewish Voice for Peace, Muslim Bar Association of Southern California, Muslim Legal Fund of America, National Lawyers Guild, Sikh Coalition, South Asian Americans Leading Together, and the South Asian Bar Association - Northern California. 

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NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non-profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan, is the largest Arab-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980 by former Senator James Abourezk to protect the civil rights of people of Arab descent in the United States and to promote the cultural heritage of the Arabs. ADC has 38 chapters nationwide, including chapters in every major city in the country, and members in all 50 states.

The ADC Research Institute (ADC-RI), which was founded in 1981, is a Section 501(c)(3) educational organization that sponsors a wide range of programs on behalf of Arab Americans and of importance to all Americans. ADC-RI programs include research studies, seminars, conferences and publications that document and analyze the discrimination faced by Arab Americans in the workplace, schools, media, and governmental agencies and institutions. ADC-RI also celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the Arabs.