Guest speakers barred from campus entry

By Nourhan Hammam
@HammamNourhan

Nageh Ibrahim, an Islamic scholar, and Omar Ezzat, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, were prevented Thursday from entering AUC campus where they were scheduled to give a talk on issues related to freedom of worship.

Senior Security Director, Mohamed Ebeid, said neither of them had permits from the security office to come on campus.

He told The Caravan that barring them had nothing to do with them as individuals; Ibrahim was at AUC last year for a discussion with Bassem Youssef.

According to flyers for the event, which were distributed last week, the talk was organized by “Tabooح.”

“We’ve been searching and asking everyone all over campus for a day-and-a-half trying to find out who was distributing these flyers and what is “Tabooح” because as far as I’m concerned this is not a club here at AUC,” said Ebeid.

According to university policy, students are not allowed to host any event or to distribute flyers on campus without approval from their department(s) or the Office of Student Development (OSD).

Any event planned by the Student Union (SU) or by any club or organization on campus has to get permission first from the OSD office; the OSD then contacts the security office to allow equipment, visitors and anything else needed.

“I’m not against having any speakers or visitors and I’m a fan of Dr. Ibrahim. I told them I don’t want them to cancel the talk, but at least postpone it until they get permission,” added Ebeid.

“This event was not planned by the SU or any student organization under the OSD,” said Baher Hassan, student projects manager at the OSD.

Ebeid also added that Ibrahim and Ezzat were very understanding and respected the security’s decision that prohibited them from entering the university.

The Caravan is currently contacting representatives from Tabooح for a statement.