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Mike Pence, University of Virginia

April 2022
University of Virginia (Public college or university)
Charlottesville, VA, United States

Identity of Speakers

  • Mike Pence
    Unaffiliated
    Invited for non-academic lecture

    Mike Pence is the former Vice-President of the United States

Additional Information

  • Incident Nature:
    Student publication
    University-sponsored lecture/address/panel
  • Incident Political Orientation:
    Right wing
  • Incident Responses:
    Rally or Protests
  • Incident Status:
    No litigation
  • Did not involve Speech Codes

Summary

As part of a national speaking tour sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation, Mike Pence was scheduled to give an address at the University of Virginia on April 12, 2022. At earlier stops, he had praised the Trump administration’s achievements and decried the “all-encompassing assault on culture and values” by the “woke left.” On March 17, the student newspaper ran an editorial arguing that Pence should not be given at a platform to speak at UVA, citing his “transphobia, homophobia and racism” that “threatens the well-being and safety of students.” The editorial sparked a backlash, including a letter penned by a group of faculty criticizing the editorial for equating speech with violence that was published in the paper.