The decision upset many conservative media members and several student groups on campus have spoken out in defense of Shapiro’s right to speak.
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Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro was informed he wouldn’t be permitted to speak at DePaul University, and tonight he appeared on Fox News to explain what’s really going on here.
Bob Janis, Vice President of Facilities Operations at DePaul, said in an email to the university’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter, “Given the experiences and security concerns that some other schools have had with Ben Shapiro speaking on their campuses, DePaul can not agree to allow him to speak on our campus at this time”.
The move comes after protesters disrupted an event in May featuring conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
The Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization, said in a statement on its website that members have worked with Shapiro for the past six months on tours of college campuses.
Reaction on Facebook was mixed, with some adding in their criticism of “the intolerance of the academic liberal champions of tolerance”, and others pointing out that the matter has nothing to do with freedom of speech since DePaul is a private institution. “If DePaul can not trust its delicate liberal snowflake students and administrators to allow Ben to speak his mind safely and freely, it has utterly failed in its mission to “[foster] a community that welcomes open discourse”. DePaul should publicly thank its Young Americans for Freedom chapter for boldly doing the school’s job of providing “exposure to differing points of view” for it and allow Ben to speak, not begrudgingly, but happily. Rather, his request has been denied by the university.
A DePaul spokeswoman tells the Sun Times the school is refusing to let Shapiro speak because it does not feel it is in a proper position to provide the proper security that would be needed.
“Mr. Yiannopoulos was brought to campus to provoke violence and damage the DePaul community”.
Last February, California State University attempted to block Shapiro from speaking on campus, but the former Breitbart columnist showed up anyway. Put aside students’ potential reactions to what Shapiro might say.
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There was no further response from the Chicago university.
