Milo UPDATING EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT – SPEECH AT 5:30 PM
Tonight’s Speech At GWU Provokes National Controversy
Effort to Require His Pledge to Refrain From Hate Speech Rejected
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 21, 2016): It now appears that the time of the event announced below has been suddenly changed at the last minute to 5:30-6:30 PM from the originally scheduled 7:00-9:00 PM time, although no notification was sent to ticket holders showing the old time, and there was no announcement anywhere else.
Photo by LeWeb14
Thus, for reasons still unknown, it seems that many students eager to hear this controversial speaker will be very disappointed. Also, students are likely to be discouraged from attending by the change to a less favorable time, and the slashing of the total time for his appearance. The time change will also probably mean little or no Q&A at the end; a very popular feature with many students.
“This could be a clever but underhanded tactic by a university which has received international condemnation for its recent infringement of student rights and religious freedom to appear to honor its stated commitment to academic freedom by not disinviting a controversial speaker, but at the same time severely limiting his ability to be heard,” says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, adding that only time will tell.
The national tour of the “Dangerous Faggot” hits George Washington University tonight despite efforts to require that he first pledge “to abstain from hate speech,” even though many universities have banned his appearances, notes Inside Higher Ed [IHE] this morning.
Where he hasn’t been banned from a campus, students objecting to his views about women, gays, and many other groups have disrupted his appearance and made it impossible for him to speak, but tonight at least twelve special security officers will be present in hopes of maintaining order, says Banzhaf.
There had been a suggestion that “Yiannopoulos should be allowed to come to GW, but he shouldn’t be allowed to target minorities within our student population. Before Yiannopoulos comes, he should assure students and administrators that he will not actively engage in hate speech at GW.”
Banzhaf labeled this an ingenious attempted end-run around the free speech guaranteed by GWU to all students and speakers, designed to avoid adverse publicity from cancelling a speaker outright, but still muzzling him from saying anything which any group on campus might object to.
Milo Yiannopoulos said “the left uses the term ‘hate speech’ to fight any speech they don’t care for. The students trying to control free speech at George Washington University should grow up.”
Although Milo Yiannopoulos will be allowed to speak, attendance – once open to the public – has now been restricted to GWU students only, in part for security concerns, says Banzhaf.
