UC Berkeley alumnus and author David Horowitz was invited by the campus’ College Republicans to speak. The convoluted communication between the College Republicans and Berkeley’s administration led the cancellation of the event.
Similar to how the mainstream media will bury facts of a story in the twentieth paragraph of an unconfirmed narrative, UC Berkeley decided to give time and space for David Horowitz’s appearance during scheduled class times. This would have caused students to skip class if they were interested in attending his lecture.
The College Republicans stated, “[T]he organization chose to cancel the event because of its high cost and expected low turnout.”
UC Berkeley’s administration refuses to acknowledge that they may have the cause for this outcome. Dan Mogulof, campus spokesperson, has denied any and all accusations that they used any measure to effect the presentation.
David Horowitz released a statement on his publication, Front Page Mag:
Given UC Berkeley’s recent lack of determination to secure both guests and students in the recent past, it is no shock that they influenced the decision to rescind Horowitz’s invitation.
This has not been Horowitz’s first return to his alma mater. His previous visit in 2001 consisted of being escorted by 30 armed guards in order for him to appear.
Horowitz said, “Berkeley is a disgrace. But it is just the most visible example of a nationwide trend among universities to bow to the desires of the totalitarian left and further their goal of suppressing ideas they don’t like.”
He couldn’t be more accurate. If universities want shake off the appearance of leftist bias, they have to be willing to invest equally into opinions they personally don’t agree with. It is time for academia to exercise the tolerance they expect out of everyone else.
