Members of the Syracuse University Student Association recently authored a resolution “Condemning the Appearance of Ben Shapiro at Syracuse University.” The resolution passed on Monday.
The Daily Orange writes that on April 6, the university’s Finance Board had “approved the College Republicans’ $39,000 request to invite Shapiro to SU” in October.
The document notes that the original title of the resolution was: “A Resolution Condemning the Appearance of a White Supremacist at Syracuse University.” However, it was changed because “white supremacy” isn’t the only alleged offense perpetrated by Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew. The list further includes “racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, and xenophobia.”
Following a “trigger warning,” the resolution, which has two co-sponsors and well over 150 “authors,” asks the assembly to “condemn Ben Shapiro to set the precedent that hateful speakers/speakers who engage in hate speech are not welcome on the SU campus.”
The authors of the resolution write that while hate speech is protected under the First Amendment, and that those reading the document might view the resolution’s demand as inhibiting such free speech, “hate speech can actually limit free speech because it creates a hostile and unsafe environment where those who disagree and/or want to defend themselves feel like they cannot due to fear of retribution.”
“The fear and lack of safety caused by hate speech does not allow for free debate, learning, and open discourse,” the authors add.
The authors then quote The Stanford Daily, which wrote: “Shapiro says his beliefs are rooted in facts, not feelings, but there’s not a single fact in sight – only clear and blinding white supremacy.”
The resolution continues, listing numerous alleged incidents of “hate speech” from Shapiro, including but not limited to statements of fact about transgenderism, non-controversial conservative viewpoints, and a number of other statements lacking any context or explanation whatsoever.
The resolution concludes:
Whereas, Ben Shapiro is overtly xenophobic and hateful against those of marginalized communities. Whereas, inviting such a divisive and hateful speaker does not support marginalized students of Syracuse University and serves no purpose other than to antagonize students of marginalized identities and divide our campus even further. Therefore, be it resolved that the Syracuse University Student Association condemns Ben Shapiro speaking at Syracuse University and requests that the University take whatever measures are necessary to prevent this event from taking place.
The Daily Wire reached out to several members of the Syracuse University Student Association for comment, but none have replied as of publication.
The Syracuse College Republicans, however, directed The Daily Wire to a statement from their organization.
The statement reads in part:
We emphatically reject the idea that Ben Shapiro is a white supremacist. There is no evidence for this beyond the sewing together of less than a dozen statements said over two decades that have been interpreted in the most uncharitable way possible. Real white supremacists exist. Racism continues to plague the United States as it has for centuries. White Nationalism has found new life in this country in recent years. These realities should be of concern to all good-natured Americans. Ben Shapiro has never subscribed to the ideas of racism and white supremacy. In reality, he has vehemently attacked these horrendous racist ideas repeatedly…
The statement then correctly notes that Shapiro has been the “top recipient of online anti-Semitic harassment … according to the Anti-Defamation League,” and that Shapiro gave a speech at Stanford in the fall of 2019 condemning the Alt-Right and their ideology.
The statement continues:
Accusing Shapiro of being a white supremacist, assuming his views are representative of our views as College Republicans, is tantamount to accusing us of being white supremacists. At the very least, the accusations lead one to assume that the College Republicans are so lacking in moral character as to invite a white supremacist to campus…
We invite people to think carefully about the implications of the resolution of the SA candidates.
This isn’t the first time Shapiro has been wrongfully accused of being a white supremacist or part of the Alt-Right. A March 2019 piece in The Economist called Shapiro an “alt-right sage.” The paper was later forced to issue an editor’s note retracting the comment.
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