MSA representatives met with Terrell Jones, vice provost for educational equity, yesterday morning to voice concerns about the debates, which began Tuesday.
"Hate should not be permitted to be spread on our campus, especially in these volatile times," MSA President Zubair Malik said.
Jones acknowledged the events at Willard Building were not an educational exchange.
"There is very little difference between Islam and Christianity. Unfortunately, the focus here today is on the minor differences rather than the shared core values," Jones said.
The MSA called for the university to take action at yesterday's meeting.
"The First Amendment says this needs to be permitted," Jones said. "We want to create an environment in which all members of the university are safe, but everyone must understand that freedom of speech must be permitted."
Malik said that in light of the events of the past two days, the concerns of the MSA should be one of, if not the most, pressing issues that requires action by the university.
Yesterday afternoon, Smock and Cope, the former Willard preacher, provoked reaction from the student body for the second straight day. Cope said the dire reaction he and Smock instigated from Muslims and Christians alike was precisely what they wanted.
"We wish to bring division. We are forcing Christians to choose whether their first priority lies with Christ or with friendship to the world," Cope said. "Those who oppose us do not support Christ. In causing Christians to defend Muslims, we are putting them in a position to realize they need salvation."
Arousing verbal dissent, Smock leapt onto a bench, pointed his finger at students and shouted verbal insults to the Islamic religion.
"I'm not politically correct and I'm not going to attempt to be. I make it a point to be politically incorrect," Smock announced. "I used to be a drunken whore-minded fraternity boy. I was born again."
Both Muslim and Christian students joined forces to defend their religions. Jameka Neil (junior-journalism) and Nasr received applause from the crowd for their retaliatory words to Smock.
Jones said that his discussions on the concerns of the MSA and the university will initiate educational measures such as e-mails and educational forums that will allow students to discuss religions in a calm manner.
"The irresponsible verbal discourse given in front of Willard Building in the past two days is utterly outrageous and furthermore dangerous," Nasr said. "The Penn State MSA as well as several other student organizations expect nothing less than a zero tolerance policy for such hate-filled distortions of the truth."
