The University of California, Berkeley will host conservative commentator Ben Shapiro in the fall, after initially telling the Berkeley College Republicans it could not accommodate the on-campus event.
“It’s clear that we have a number of workable options,” Dan Mogulof, Berkeley’s assistant vice chancellor for public affairs, told the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education on Thursday. “This event is going to happen. We just need to sit down with the College Republicans to talk through the details.”
Mogulof confirmed the report to the Washington Examiner.
Berkeley administrators told the College Republicans on Tuesday they could not meet the group’s request for a free, centrally located, 500-seat campus venue on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.
“We didn’t have any options in terms of the spaces available free of charge,” Mogulof said, but “because of the extent of our commitment to free speech, the campus will help fund any fees associated with hosting this event if need be.”
This is Berkeley’s third free speech controversy in 2017.
The first included a debacle over an event that was to feature former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos in February after it sparked violent riots causing $100,000 worth of damage.
A second quarrel in April over an event with right-wing political pundit Ann Coulter ultimately led to Coulter dropping out.
Shapiro is set to discuss student First Amendment issues before a congressional hearing called Challenges to Freedom of Speech on College Campuses on July 27.
Berkeley’s Shapiro event is co-sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation.
