Identity of Speakers
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Michael Knowles
Unaffiliated
Invited for non-academic lectureConservative political commentator
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Recognized student group event
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Incident Political Orientation:
Left wing -
Incident Responses:
Other
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- Was Speech Code incident
Summary
The College Republicans chapter at the University of St. Thomas, a private Catholic school in Minnesota, asked Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator, to speak on campus.
The University rejected the chapter’s request because of the speaker’s views. According to the administrators, all campus speakers must “align with our St. Thomas Conviction Statements on dignity and diversity.” The administrators believed Mr. Knowles’s values were not aligned with theirs because he “made statements that are derogatory to the transgender and autistic community.”
