Defying the university’s ban on him speaking, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro will speak at DePaul University Tuesday night.
DePaul University’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom is sponsoring a speech by Christina Hoff Summers, and Shapiro will appear with her. Last Friday, YAF threw down the gauntlet in an open letter:
Last August, DePaul announced a ban of conservative commentator Ben Shapiro for the foreseeable future. When our YAF chapter requested a room for the event, Bob Janis, Vice President of Facilities Operations, informed us that, “given the experiences and security concerns that some other schools have had with Ben Shapiro speaking on their campuses, DePaul cannot agree to allow him to speak on our campus at this time.”
Since that announcement, Shapiro has spoken on multiple college campuses, including Yale, Clemson, and UT Austin. He has been speaking on college campuses for years, making appearances at many different schools, too many to count. Furthermore, he holds a degree from Harvard Law, where he graduated cum laude, and is a New York Times bestselling author.
DePaul University’s Guiding Principles on Speech and Expression clearly state that “DePaul affirms the right of speakers to voice their viewpoints, even at the risk of controversy.” These viewpoints, DePaul points out, help foster “a community that welcomes open discourse.” The statement goes on to explain, “We believe that intellectual inquiry is enriched immeasurably by robust debate and exposure to differing points of view. By remaining open to a broad range of ideas and opinions, we foster mutual understanding, test our beliefs, and create the most effective conditions for seeking knowledge.”
There is no argument to be made that Ben Shapiro does not substantively contribute to this crucial dialogue. Therefore, DePaul YAF is excited to announce that on Tuesday, November 15, alongside Christina Hoff Sommers, Ben Shapiro will be speaking on our campus in Cortelyou Commons at 5:00 PM.
DePaul YAF added:
We speak now directly to the DePaul administration: Will you uphold free speech? Will you allow the supposed dialogue you so often revere to actually take place? Will you reject our Guiding Principles on Speech and Expression and the promises you made regarding students’ speech rights? Do you have such little faith in thestudent body and the institution that one person expressing a different (and quite common) point of view will cause students to commit acts of violence?
Janis had issued the ban on Shapiro in late July, writing, “Given the experiences and security concerns that some other schools have had with Ben Shapiro speaking on their campuses, DePaul cannot agree to allow him to speak on our campus at this time.”
YAF responded at the time:
For the past six months we have worked with Ben on a high-profile tour of college campuses and witnessed with our own eyes the vicious and threatening behavior of tyrannical leftists who have been programmed by progressive administrators to silence all speech they disagree with—If DePaul cannot 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.” Make no mistake, any security concerns we face on campuses are 100 percent incited by the censorious, intolerant Left. 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. It’s incumbent upon the intolerant Left, not hardworking YAF students, to allow conservatives to express their viewpoints without fearing for their safety. Thankfully, Ben, and YAF activists across the country, believe deeply enough in free speech to fight for their values, even as the Left attempts to intimidate them from even speaking.
If DePaul does not reverse its decision to ban Ben, it must immediately remove any claim to support free speech and expression from its website and marketing materials or become a fraudulent laughingstock.
Having spoken at numerous college campuses in 2015-16, after the ban was issued in July Shapiro spoke at Yale University, UT Austin, and TCU, among others.
Shapiro stated, “See you there, snowflakes.”