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University of St. Thomas, College Republicans Event

From June 2022 to August 2022
University of St. Thomas (Private college or university)
St. Paul, MN, U.S.

Identity of Speakers

  • Michael Knowles
    Unaffiliated
    Invited for non-academic lecture

    Conservative political commentator

Additional Information

  • Incident Nature:
    Recognized student group event
  • Incident Political Orientation:
    Left wing
  • Incident Responses:
    Other
  • 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.”