On Wednesday, a protest from Black Lives Matter supporters erupted at the University of California, Santa Barbara, when the Associated Students Senate voted on approving funding for the UCSB College Republicans to host a speech by Daily Wire Editor-In-Chief Ben Shapiro.
Over 100 students staged a “Blackout” to protest the decision on Monday by the A.S. Finance and Business Committee to grant $5,000 to the UCSB College Republicans to host Shapiro; the vote on Wednesday was on whether to approve the funding. Over 150 students were present.
The Associated Students Senate decided to transfer the Senate meeting out of the UCen Flying A Room into Corwin Pavilion because they anticipated protests. Both sides were permitted to speak about their respective viewpoints.
Eric Lendrum, a fourth-year political science major and founding chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, said the university is known for protecting freedom of speech and freedom of expression. He asserted that tabling the event would stain the university’s reputation, stating, “If you guys decide to table this event just because some people are offended by it, then that will set a very dangerous precedent.”
Nadia Talley, the political co-chair for the Black Student Union (BSU), complained that white students don’t have to worry about safe spaces; she opined that a Shapiro event could “incite riot and hateful speech.”
Natalie Jordan, the A.S. Internal Vice President, asked senators if they would allow filming as part of the Senate’s live stream. Senator Jordan Mitchell asked that he not be filmed. That prompted the UCSB College Republicans to protest; Jordan told the students they were out of order. Many of the College Republicans then left the meeting, although College Republican president Andrew Gates stayed to film Mitchell. (This was the information divulged by the student newspaper; the Daily Wire was later informed that this information was misleading; please see update below.)
After the public forum concluded, the two sides then quarreled outside the Senate; Black Lives Matter supporters then chanted “Black People,” claiming using student funds for the Shapiro event would promote “anti-blackness.”
Despite the argument that College Republicans had made during the forum on behalf of free speech, the A.S. Senate tabled the approval of a free speech bill, claiming they wanted to avoid looking as if they were taking sides. Senator Reilly Hobson, chair of Finance and Business Committee, explained, “I don’t want it to be seen as anything that it shouldn’t be seen as.”
Jordan informed the senators prior to taking a secret ballot that was handwritten, “As decision makers, we can’t be speaking in hypotheticals about what somebody may say. Any decision we make has to not be based on the content itself. Let’s keep everything viewpoint neutral.”
The six-hour meeting went on past midnight, at which time the results were announced: 16 senators voted to approve the funding; five voted against it, and two abstained.
After the result was announced, Naya Al-Anbar, a third-year transfer student, exited, yelling, “F**k you” to the Senate. She said, “What went on in there was the most f**ked up thing in the entire world,. Hundreds of POCs came in and begged you not to do this, and A.S. looked them all in the eye and voted no, and they couldn’t even own up to it.” She said protests would be set for the event, and she would communicate with the local chapter of Black Lives Matter for further support.
Shapiro has spoken at many different colleges over the last year; a violent and dangerous protest erupted at Cal State Los Angeles last February; in April a belligerent mob at Penn State broke through the closed doors to threaten Shapiro and his audience.
Update: The Daily Wire was informed of further information to correct several misimpressions left in the sixth paragraph of this article.
1. Only one College Republican left the meeting, and was escorted out.
2. College Republicans President Andrew Gates was not filming Mitchell; he was sitting down and listening to the public forum while another student used his camera with his permission, he told The Daily Wire. Gates only confronted Mitchell when Mitchell began aggressively addressing other College Republicans which, due to Mitchell’s reputation for “violence,” made Gates fear for the members of his group.
For the video of the various speakers delivering their opinions before the Senate, see here.