Posted on 02/24/2008 8:07:36 PM PST by LibWhacker
MUSLIM university students want lectures to be rescheduled to fit in with prayer timetables and separate male and female eating and recreational areas established on Australian campuses.
International Muslim students, predominantly from Saudi Arabia, have asked universities in Melbourne to change class times so they can attend congregational prayers. They also want a female-only area for Muslim students to eat and relax.
But at least one institution has rejected their demands, arguing that the university is secular and it does not want to set a precedent for requests granted in the name of religious beliefs.
La Trobe University International chief officer John Molony said several students had approached the Bundoora institution about rearranging class times to fit in with daily prayers.
Mr Molony said the university was attempting to "meet the needs" of an increasing number of Muslim international students, including doubling the size of the prayer room on campus.
La Trobe University International College director Martin Van Run said that although it was involved in discussions with the Muslim students who had made the requests, the university was not planning to change any timetables.
"That would seriously inconvenience other people at the college and it is not institutionally viable," he told The Australian. "We are a secular institution ... and we need to have a structured timetable."
Mr Van Run said that Saudi students were fully aware that the university was secular before coming to study there. "They know well in advance the class times," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
Kicking them out is a better idea.
clear off!
Maybe he needs to say it again. It appears they had sand in their ears and didn’t hear him the first time.
Has anyone asked Obama his thoughts on the matter of Muslim's matriculating in America? Noticed,in news clip yesterday; what is usually obscurred by camera; Muslims in audience supporting Obama. . .
Is it entirely unreasonable to assume that if this school merits being called a "university," it is large enough that one could attend the class one would attend in lieu of prayer at a different time? I attend a small community college, and even here all but a very few unpopular classes have many sections. Don't want to take a class at noon? Take it at any one of the other five times.
As for making a female-only area, what's the next step? Forcing the women to stay in that area and not socialize outside of it? (Answer: yes.)
Besides, any woman worth her salt can keep impertinent men away without a "female-only" section. :P
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.