Conservative columnist and commentator Ben Shapiro is set to testify before a joint Congressional hearing this month, titled “Challenges to Freedom of Speech on College Campuses.”
Adam Carolla, who recently collaborated with PragerU creator Dennis Prager to develop a documentary entitled “No Safe Spaces,” will join Shapiro at the hearing. Set for release in 2018, “No Safe Spaces” will detail concepts such as political correctness, privilege, and safe spaces on college campuses.
Shapiro will also be accompanied by New York Law School professor, and former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, Nadine Strossen.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Shapiro was invited to speak at the two hour hearing due to a pattern of campus rioting which often takes place when he speaks.
“I’m looking forward to informing Congress of the challenges of free speech at colleges, especially from Democrats. I’ll be curious to see if any Democrats even show up at the hearing and, if they do, if they’ll take an adversarial position or present a united front,” the 33-year-old columnist told the Hollywood Reporter.
The upcoming hearing on free speech, scheduled July 27th, could come at no better time. Last year, multiple schools shut down right-leaning speech on campus. Perhaps most notable was Shapiro’s speech at California State University, Los Angeles, where police had to escort him off campus after protesters became violent and pulled the fire alarm to disrupt the event.
In Chicago, DePaul University made threats to arrest Shapiro after he was invited to speak at the catholic university alongside right-wing feminist Christina Hoff Sommers.
Similarly, last February, journalist and former senior editor at Breitbart.com Milo Yiannopoulos was expected to speak at the University of California, Berkeley. His event was decimated by anti-fascist (Antifa) members, which left a myriad of Yiannopoulos’ supporters, as well as numerous Trump advocates wounded and bloodstained in a demented night of rioting.
Despite the threats of violence, arrest, and even lawsuits, conservative speakers are still pushing for their right to speak on campus. Shapiro is expected to speak at Berkeley this September; hopefully his congressional testimony will prove to be worthwhile.
Shapiro, Carolla, and Strossen will testify before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits and Administrative Rules and the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Affairs.
