SMU cancels 'unapologetically Muslim' CAIR event on campus
Historic UMC campus cites 'terrorist' designation, says event is 'inconsistent with our mission'
A Texas university named earlier this year as the second-best Christian college in the U.S. says it will no longer host a scheduled event for an Islamic group deemed to be a “terrorist organization” by the state.
The North Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Texas) was set to host the Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) on Sept. 19 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas as part of a simultaneous two-city event, according to an online flyer.
Billed as a “leadership experience” for both high school and college students, the “Unapologetically Muslim: Youth in Action” event was scheduled to have “community leaders and professionals” speak at the event, along with “Interactive workshops” and a visit to City Hall to “get a firsthand look at how local government works.”
Separately ranked No. 9 in Academic Influence's 2026 list of best Christian colleges, SMU was founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church South and is home to the Perkins School of Theology, which is one of 13 United Methodist Church (UMC) seminaries that receive funding from the denomination's Ministerial Education Fund.
Despite its Christian history, SMU’s student body is religiously diverse and offers its own Muslim Student Association (MSA) as well as dining options that are considered halal, or lawful for consumption by Muslim students.
In order for food to be halal, it typically involves slaughtering the animal while saying an Islamic phrase that includes “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”
It’s not clear whether the MSA was involved in planning or coordinating the CAIR event scheduled for next month.
An SMU spokesperson told The Christian Post that while the university “welcomes a wide range of organizations and perspectives to campus as part of our commitment to open inquiry and the free exchange of ideas,” SMU will no longer host the CAIR event on campus.
“After reviewing plans for an upcoming unaffiliated youth leadership symposium advertised to take place at SMU, the University has determined that permitting the event to take place on campus, given the State of Texas’ current designation of the symposium’s organizer, is inconsistent with our mission and related University policies,” Megan Jacob, SMU's director of media relations, told CP on Thursday. “As a result, the event will not take place on campus.”
As of Thursday afternoon, CAIR’s online flyer still listed SMU as one of the event’s locations.
Last November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as “terrorist organizations” because of their stated goal to “forcibly impose sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world.’” The order prohibits either organization from acquiring real property interest in Texas.
While SMU will no longer host the event on campus, the university has a history of welcoming CAIR on campus for interfaith discussions. In 2014, SMU hosted a CAIR panel on the topic of the "Islamic State," commonly known as ISIS, a jihadist group linked to the execution of Christians and other religious groups in the Middle East.
Titled “What is ISIS? Religious Extremism and the Politics of Fear,” the self-styled “academic forum” featured a panel of CAIR-approved “political and religious scholars” to explore “the issue of ISIS beyond media reporting,” and featured panelists including Dallas-area imam Sheikh Abdul Nasir Jangda, along with Robert Hunt, director of Global Religious Studies at SMU, and Texas A&M Law School professor Sahar Aziz.
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
