In a recent Quick Take, I asked if Ben Shapiro would be allowed to speak at UC Berkeley this September. Now the school is using the same excuse for him that they used for Ann Coulter.
The College Fix reports:
UC-Berkeley can’t find ‘available campus venue’ for September Ben Shapiro event
Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro won’t be getting his preferred venue at the University of California-Berkeley for his planned Sept. 14 event.
Young America’s Foundation, which is supporting the lecture, said in an email blast Wednesday night that the university told the Berkeley College Republicans it couldn’t “identify an available campus venue” for the event for that date.
It can only accommodate venue requests “when events are held at a time and location that allow for the provision of any required security measures,” according to the letter by Dean of Students Joseph Greenwell and Millicent Morris Cheney, the student organization coordinator.
YAF said:
Berkeley’s inability to find a lecture hall more than two months in advance is laughable. The university’s email is full of double-speak such as the statement “Ben Shapiro is welcome on our campus, and we are committed to supporting his, and your, rights to free speech” …
An endless stream of liberal speakers continue to be granted opportunities to speak, unobstructed by time, place, or manner restrictions while conservatives are continually treated unequally, and repeatedly relegated to the margins of campus activity.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Berkeley seems to have found a space, and an ability to pay for it. Granted, the university has a point in noting that scheduling their largest spaces is more demanding than space for small groups. It may be reasonable to make the case that normally they need more than two or three months lead time to schedule a free space that seats 500.
The university agreeing to cover the cost of space if needed is a smart move on their part. Being willing to go the extra distance to accommodate a conservative speaker is good publicity after the past two attempts at bringing a conservative to campus have been fiascos.
Not perfect, but an improvement.