Identity of Speakers
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Ben Shapiro
Unaffiliated
Invited for non-academic lectureBen Shapiro is a conservative commentator and provocateur
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Recognized student group event
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Incident Political Orientation:
Right-of-spectrum -
Incident Responses:
Other
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- No protest Occured
- Did not involve Speech Codes
Summary
Ben Shapiro is a conservative commentator and provocateur. In October 2018, Shapiro was invited by the University of Southern California (USC) chapter of Young Americans for Freedom to speak on campus. However, the group cancelled some 150 of the free tickets students had reserved, reportedly out of fear that some of them would disrupt the event. Some of these students were leaders of organizations that represent minorities. On October 4, the Shapiro event went forward with no disruptions.
USC’s Office of Campus Activities inquired into the ticketing incident and found no violation of the university’s policies. However, the Young Americans for Freedom received funding from student government on the condition that the event must be free for all undergraduate students. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education said that a student organization hosting an event can decline to give reservations to those who publicly indicate they are not actually attending or who have announced they want to disrupt an event, but that this doesn’t extend to turning students away simply because organizers think they are opposed to the speaker’s views.
