Undergraduate Assembly member Rashad Ibrahim said last night he is resigning from his position on the UA. Ibrahim, who as founder of the Human Rights League had been at the center of the University's debate on the Racial Harassment Policy, said he is quitting partly to concentrate on academics and partly because the UA has been afflicted with persistent problems of intolerance. "Not everyone is Rush Limbaugh or David Duke, but no matter what issue comes through, people were going to reveal their intolerance," he said. "They don't think of themselves as sexists or racists or homophobes because people like that have become the norm – in a sense, you could say they're normal." Ibrahim said he will continue to work against intolerance of all kinds. He said the best way to achieve his goals is to succeed academically, get into a good law school and affect the world beyond the University. "Although I respect many of the people I worked with on the UA, I just came to realize that nothing I could accomplish would produce real change away from the increasing intolerance at, and beyond, Penn," he said. "You realize people are a lot less willing to hear other people's problems, but an attack on political correctness is an attack on whatever isn't the American model." Ibrahim said his decision follows a recent UA steering committee meeting that he walked out of in disgust, after members disagreed over the issue of diversifying Locust Walk. It wasn't a single episode that led to his decision but it was a general attitude, he said. On issues such as the Racial Harassment Policy, diversifying Locust Walk, the Reserve Officer Training Corps or DuBois College House, he said, people were driven by "growing intolerance". "People don't want to see women and minorities on the Walk, but they won't come out and say it," he said. "They can't come out and say, 'I don't like black people, they shouldn't be at Penn,' so they say other stupid things." He added that opposition to many issues was simply an effort to prevent change, and was not motivated by solid arguments. UA Chairperson Seth Hamalian said he regrets Ibrahim's decision, but is confident Ibrahim will continue fighting his "political battles". "We're losing one of our hardest workers and someone who contributed a tremendous amount," he said. "But for very understandable reasons, we're here as students first and foremost, and our first concern is enabling us to fight these political battles through gaining an education." As for Ibrahim's allegations of "intolerance" in the UA, Hamalian said whatever intolerance exists merely mirrors the feelings of the student body-at-large. "Unfortunately, the UA is somewhat of a vivid reflection of students as a whole," he said. "More and more, there are growing pockets of intolerance across the board. "This doesn't mean [intolerance will] always have to be a part of this organization, just as it doesn't always have to be a part of this University. ?I hope members in the UA will take it as a challenge to improve the atmosphere within the organization and the University as a whole." UA representative Dan Schorr, a frequent opponent of Ibrahim over the Racial Harassment Policy, called the decision "unfortunate", but disagreed with Ibrahim's characterization of the UA. "The voting record of the UA supports ideas Rashad supported this year," he said. "I'm very surprised that he sees this year's UA in that light because it is totally inaccurate." Ibrahim said he didn't want his decision to reflect poorly on the work of Hamalian and other representatives, but said the UA was fundamentally "very conservative". Hamalian said Ibrahim's resignation brings to light some of the problems the UA is working on. "I'm glad he was honest about his reasons for leaving because this organization and this University are still far from being in a position to pat themselves on the back for a job well done."
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