On Wednesday, Young America’s Foundation and the Berkeley College Republicans were told by the University of California, Berkeley administration that Berkeley would not facilitate an event by Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro on September 14 on campus. Instead, administrators have informed YAF and BCR that they are “unable to identify an available campus venue.” They have not provided a list of other events taking place on campus on that time and date that would prevent Shapiro from speaking.
As YAF reports:
In an email to BCR members, Dean of Students Joseph Greenwell and Student Organization Coordinator Millicent Morris Chaney denied the students’ request for a venue for September 14, 2017, despite what the Morris Chaney calls “extensive efforts.”
Berkeley had earlier explained, “Ben Shapiro is welcome on our campus, and we are committed to supporting his, and your, rights to free speech.”
Obviously, that isn’t true. The administrator states that Berkeley can only host Shapiro “when events are held at a time and location that allow for the provision of any required security measures.”
Berkeley has not yet provided any alternative times, dates, or locations.
Berkeley’s attempt to prevent Shapiro’s speech follows hard on the university’s decision to cancel Ann Coulter’s speaking engagement at the school earlier this year thanks to supposed security concerns, and Berkeley’s cancellation of a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos in 2016 after Antifa rioters broke into violence just prior to his scheduled event.
Shapiro told YAF, “Using ridiculous pretexts to keep conservatives from speaking is unsurprising but disappointing. We’ll find a way to get this event done, and UC Berkeley has a moral and legal obligation to ensure we do so.”
Shapiro spoke at UC Berkeley in April 2016, with no security problems of any kind.
Shapiro told The Daily Wire, “We’re coming to Berkeley, regardless of attempts to stop us. It’s just a question of when and where. Stay tuned.”