University of California President Mark G. Yudof made the following statement today (March 10) after the appearance of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan at UC Berkeley during an Afrikan Black Coalition Conference organized by the Black Student Union:

"Louis Farrakhan is a provocative, divisive figure with a long history of racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic speech. It was distressing in the extreme that a student organization invited him to speak on the UC Berkeley campus.

"But, as I have said before, we cannot, as a society or as a university community, be provoked by hurtful speech to retreat from the cherished value of free speech."

Also, see the open letter from President Yudof to the UC community, sent out Thursday (March 8) in advance of Farrakhan's appearance.