Orange Coast College does not discriminate based on ethnicity, sexual orientation and a slew of other factors. Some students want this added to the list: political affiliation and ideological beliefs.

The school’s College Republicans asked the Coast Community College District on Wednesday, April 5, to amend its discrimination statement to add the additional protection in the wake of a controversy involving the club and an instructor who was secretly videotaped while making anti-Donald Trump comments.

The request comes at a time when controversies over free-speech issues on college campuses have become more frequent, with students blocking speakers they don’t like and administrators in some universities confining open speech to small areas.

“This is not a left or right issue. This is a common sense solution to a problem which springs from extremist partisan feelings from either side of the political spectrum against the other,” Joshua Recalde-Martinez, an OCC College Republicans leader, told trustees.

Rob Schneiderman, president of the faculty union, said the district’s community colleges already provide students with the ability to report faculty, staff and other students for violating policies. To add political affiliations as “a protected class of citizens seems like a big government, nanny state solution that will invite lawsuits and regulation,” he said.

“Harsh criticism of a politician … is not discrimination,” Schneiderman said. “Surely, this current generation can listen to political statements they disagree with and not claim discrimination.”

During a meeting that threatened to get rowdy at times with cries from the audience, mostly in support of the College Republicans, the conservative students asked trustees for several things, including a system that makes it easier to report misconduct and record perceived misconduct.

The request that drew the most comments from the audience of more than 100 students, community members and faculty, however, revolved around OCC’s recent selection of instructor Olga Perez Stable Cox as faculty member of the year. The College Republicans asked the trustees to denounce her selection and call for a new campuswide election to select someone for the honor.

Students, instructors and other community members argued for and against Cox, a human sexuality instructor who was secretly recorded last December calling Trump’s election “an act of terrorism.”

A 10-member committee selected her for the honor only a month after the college lifted its two-month suspension of the student who made the video clips that went viral online.

“Faculty member of the year? You gotta be kidding me,” said resident Vaughn Becht.

Costa Mesa resident Glenn Woody said a teacher of the year would be one who “promotes spirited and calm debate” and promotes both sides — “all without letting anyone in the room know what their personal views are on the issue.”

Cox has accepted the honor of faculty Colleague of the Year and “this is a settled matter,” Lee Gordon, president of the OCC Academic Senate, told the board.

After the video clips of Cox last December, the community college was embroiled in the controversy for months, garnering national attention, particularly from conservative pundits. At one point, Cox and her partner temporarily left their home because of threats.

The controversy continued last month when Recalde-Martinez, until recently the president of the College Republicans, was the target of graffiti across campus, calling him and the club fascists.

As for their latest requests, the College Republicans have the backing of Orange County’s GOP.

“As a former California College Republican State Chair, I know personally what it’s like to defend free speech on campus and protect the rights of conservative students,” Orange County Republican Party Chairman Fred Whitaker said in a statement this week.

Trustees took no action following the speakers’ comments Wednesday night. Board President David Grant said after the meeting that the College Republicans ought to have first sought changes through the college instead of coming directly to the trustees.

“There’s a process to do things,” Grant said in a brief interview.