c/college-speaker-controversies

Found out my old college actually banned a speaker I saw there in 2004

Was looking up old event flyers from my university and stumbled onto a news article from 2022. It said they banned this guy Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking, but I swear I saw him do a standup routine at the student union back in my junior year. Guess they changed their mind or someone complained after the fact. Anyone else find out their alma mater reversed course on something like that?

Shoutout to the professor who brought both a controversial speaker and a counter-speaker to the same event

Last semester at my community college in Portland, our poli-sci professor invited a guy who argues that college is a scam and a woman who says free tuition is a right. He had them debate on stage instead of just letting one speak. The difference was huge. The crowd stayed respectful because both sides got equal time and the Q&A was fair. Has anyone else seen a dual-speaker format work better?

Back in 2018 I saw Ann Coulter speak at Berkeley and the protest drumline outside was so loud I couldn't hear a single word she said for the first 20 minutes

Honestly, that whole day was a mess between the barricades, the police in riot gear, and a guy next to me livestreaming the whole thing on his phone, has anyone else had a speaker event just totally derailed by the noise outside?

Shoutout to that professor who warned us about inviting a controversial speaker and got ignored

Back in 2019 at a school in Ohio, we had this big debate about inviting a known anti-immigration speaker to campus. A poli sci professor named Dr. Reyes told the student group flat out, 'If you bring him, you're just giving him a stage to spread hate and nothing good comes from it.' Half the students thought that was censorship and fought to have him anyway. He came, gave his talk, and next day there were protests that turned into a 3-hour standoff with campus police. Two students got suspended for throwing stuff. Now looking back, was he right to warn us or was that just an excuse to block free speech? What do you all think - do we sometimes need to hear the bad stuff to fight it, or is some speech just not worth the hassle?

PSA: That 'free speech' debate at UCLA last fall turned into a shouting match where a professor got shoved off stage

I was sitting in the third row when three protesters rushed the stage after the speaker mentioned immigration quotas, and the security just stood there for a full 90 seconds before doing anything, so now I always check the event's security plan before I even walk into a campus auditorium has anyone else seen a speaker event go sideways that fast?

The first time I heard a conservative speaker on campus, it changed my mind about letting anyone speak

Had to choose between Milo Yiannopoulos and a BLM activist for our campus event

I'm on the student events committee at a state school in Arizona and we had to pick one speaker for our spring series. We went with the BLM activist because we thought it'd be less controversial but now half the student senate is mad at us. Anyone else deal with backlash after choosing one side over another?

Scheduled a controversial speaker for a diversity event and the board shut it down an hour before doors opened

I was on the student activities committee at a small liberal arts college near Portland last semester. We booked a speaker who had some hot takes on affirmative action, thought it would spark good discussion. After the flyers went up, a faculty board voted to cancel citing 'safety concerns'. We had already spent $1,200 of the student activity fund on his travel deposit. Nobody even asked the students what they wanted. Has anyone else had a speaker contract fall apart last minute like this?

PSA: I was booking speakers for campus events and didn't check their full records

I'm the student events coordinator at a small college in Oregon and I booked this activist speaker for a free speech event last semester, only to find out later they had a history of making threats at other schools. A professor tipped me off after they googled the person's name and found a news article from 2019 about a campus disruption they caused. How do other student leaders vet speakers without turning it into a political minefield?

That moment when I defended a speaker I'd never actually heard

I was about to sign a petition to bring this commentator to our campus, then my roommate played me a 3 minute clip from his podcast where he literally said student loans should be forgiven only for 'certain demographics.' I had been arguing about free speech for someone without knowing what they actually stood for. Anyone else ever almost backed a speaker without doing the homework first?

The weirdest thing I noticed switching from accepting all speakers to wanting more vetting

Back in 2019, I was all about letting anyone speak at my community college in Phoenix, no matter how crazy their views were. I thought that was the whole point of free speech on campus. Then we had this guy come in who spent half his time just attacking specific students by name, calling them out in the audience. It wasn't debate, it was just bullying. That changed my mind pretty fast. Now I think there is a middle ground where you can let controversial ideas fly but still set rules about basic respect and personal attacks. I still believe in hearing all sides, but I also think students shouldn't have to feel personally targeted just to sit through a lecture. Has anyone else run into a speaker who crossed that line from debate to straight up harassment?

My campus had a literal dumpster fire after that controversial speaker got banned

I was at UC Santa Cruz last spring when they canceled that alt-media guy's talk, and the protest spilled into the parking lot where someone actually set a dumpster on fire near the library. Has anyone else seen a campus controversy turn into something that dumb?

How a canceled talk at my school made me rethink free speech

That talk with my dad about the Milo Yiannopoulos thing at Berkeley

My dad was a campus activist back in the 60s and he told me they used to let anyone speak, even the Klan. Said the whole point was to argue back, not shut them down. Made me wonder if we lost something along the way. Anyone else feeling that tension?

My professor told us not to invite a pro-Israel speaker - thought that was odd for a poli-sci class

Last semester at the University of Oregon, our political science professor told us we shouldn't invite a certain speaker because it would "cause problems" on campus, but isn't that exactly when we need to hear different views? Has anyone else had a professor try to steer your event planning away from controversial speakers?

How emailing a speaker changed my view on free speech debates

I used to think banning controversial speakers was always the right call (especially after that Milo incident at Berkeley in 2017). But last semester, I actually emailed a conservative activist who was uninvited from a small college in Ohio, and we had a 30 minute phone call. Hearing his reasoning made me realize I was judging based on headlines, not actual content. Has anyone else talked directly to one of these speakers instead of just reading the news about them?

Got my local college to let a controversial speaker come after a year of trying

I spent 12 months pushing our small town community college to let a guy talk about free speech on campus after they banned him last fall for being too political. A few faculty members finally agreed to let him use a room after hours last week and 80 people showed up. Has anyone else had luck negotiating with admin like that or did I just get lucky with timing?

Had a speaker on campus in Colorado get heckled so bad she couldn't finish her talk last spring.

I tried just sitting quietly with my hands folded during the whole thing and it actually made the people around me stop and think about what they were doing, has anyone else tried staying silent instead of walking out?

Warning: That 'free speech' speaker invite I pushed for got my club's funding frozen for 3 months

I convinced my student group to invite a controversial left-wing commentator (you know, to challenge the usual right-wing ban debates), but the admin hit us with a 'security cost' loophole that drained our budget. Has anyone else run into hidden fees being used to silence speakers?

Unpopular opinion: I think canceling speakers makes them way more popular

At my school in Austin last semester, they tried to cancel a conservative commentator nobody knew. After the ban, 500 students showed up to a protest about free speech and now everyone knows her name. Wouldn't it be smarter to just let them speak and let people ignore them? Like, has anyone seen a speaker actually lose followers after getting disinvited?

My own college tried uninviting a speaker because of a petition with 200 signatures

Back in 2019 at Michigan State, a conservative commentator was set to speak on campus. Then a student group got a petition with like 200 names and the administration suddenly said they were 'reviewing security concerns.' It took 2 full weeks of arguing before they let the event happen anyway. Has anyone else seen a small number of students shut down a speaker that quick?

Dropped $200 on a Milo Yiannopoulos ticket that got cancelled an hour before doors

I was pumped to see him speak at Ohio State back in 2017. Bought a general admission ticket for $75 plus fees, drove two hours from Cleveland, and parked for $20. Then an email popped up saying the university cancelled the event due to 'security concerns'. No refund either because the ticket site said it was a 'force majeure' situation. I lost $95 total and got nothing but a gas receipt. Has anyone else gotten stiffed on tickets after a college backed out?

Found a clip of Ann Coulter at Berkeley from 2017 that totally shocked me

I was looking up old campus controversies and found a YouTube video of Ann Coulter speaking at UC Berkeley in 2017 where they had to lock down the whole building because of protests. What got me is that the speech was actually pretty mild compared to what you see on campus today, makes me wonder how much the line has actually moved in 7 years. Has anyone else gone back and watched old campus speaker footage and felt like things have shifted more than we realize?

My Poli Sci prof was right that inviting Charles Murray would backfire

I argued for two semesters that any speaker should be allowed on campus, but after watching the protest response and the town hall devolve into shouting matches, someone finally told me 'ideas don't work if nobody can hear them over the noise' and I realized he was right about creating a forum that actually allows for dialogue instead of spectacle has anyone else had a speaker invitation that seemed like a good idea on paper but turned into a disaster?

My campus invited a climate denier and the Q&A turned into a total circus

Two months ago my school brought in this guy who says global warming is a hoax. I went expecting to hear him out but it took 45 minutes of him dodging basic questions before a professor finally asked him about the 97% consensus. He just said "that's fake science" and moved on. A bunch of students walked out after that. Is this really what free speech looks like when nobody can actually debate the facts?