Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos is scheduled to visit California State University – Fullerton on October 31st, and will give a talk on freedom of speech and expression on college campuses.
Yiannopoulos, known for his bombastic style and fearless denunciation of feminists, social justice warriors, and “snowflakes,” received official criticism from the school before the event was even officially announced by the College Republicans.
“Mr. Yiannopoulos is a controversial figure,” a statement by Chief Communications Officer Jeffrey D. Cook read, before giving lip service to the support of free speech. “While many at the University and in the broader community may find Mr. Yiannopoulos’ remarks distasteful, if not wholly objectionable, the law is clear: what some consider hateful speech is, in fact, protected speech. We will not abandon our core values, nor stop supporting our students, nor discontinue building an inclusive, diverse environment.”
Similarly, Dania Salgado, the Chair of the Humanities and Social Sciences Inter-Club Council, told the Daily Titan, “we’re denouncing it because of civility and financial concerns… A lot of the values we uphold (as a college) are not in place with this event. I’m glad we passed this. It shows the same kind of progressive actions we were taking last semester are going to continue into this council.”
Yiannopoulos has visited dozens of college campuses in the past year, most notably UC Berkeley, where left-wing Antifa protesters rioted and caused over $100,000 in damage to the school. The College Republicans say they are doing everything possible to prevent a similar scenario from happening at California State – Fullerton.
“We understand the importance of keeping free speech on university campuses. We have invited Milo Yiannopoulos who is a speaker known both for his provocative style and most importantly, for his ability to spark discussion of freedom of speech,” the Cal State Fullerton College Republicans said in a statement given to Red Alert Politics.
“Cal State Fullerton has long been an institution celebrating diversity,” Amanda McGuire, President of the Cal State Fullerton College Republicans told Red Alert Politics. “Inviting a controversial speaker like Milo has created a conversation throughout the campus as students consider what it means to have true freedom of speech. For too long, progressive, left-leaning groups have dominated campus culture and marginalized conservative thinkers through intimidation tactics and violent protests. The CSUF Republicans provides a place for all voices to be heard and supports the freedom of speech on every level.”
Ryan Hoskins, Events Director for the Cal State Fullerton College Republicans echoed McGuire’s sentiments, telling Red Alert Politics “it is a shame that college students in the United States today believe that words should be equated to physical violence and therefore silenced. For this reason and many others I am excited to be a part of bringing Milo Yiannopoulos to Cal State Fullerton.”
