Ben Shapiro campus free speech tour escalates controversies
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Campus appearances draw protests, security-fee disputes, and litigation.
Ben Shapiro spoke at a number of U.S. campuses during 2016. The best-documented instance is California State University, Los Angeles, on 25 February 2016: the university sought a security fee from the student organisers, protesters blocked access to the venue, and Shapiro, a student organiser and Young Americans for Freedom subsequently sued the university on First and Fourth Amendment grounds. The suit was dropped after the university agreed to new speech policies.
The date on this entry has been corrected to year-only. The previous date of 15 September 2016 is not supported by any source located for it, and the entry describes a series of appearances across the year rather than a single event.
The entry previously stated that the tour “solidified” Shapiro’s standing and “galvanized” student activists. No cited source establishes either effect, and the claims have been removed rather than restated. What the sources support is that the appearances took place, that they were contested, and that the contests produced fee disputes and litigation.
Sources
- 01.
The Free Speech Project, Georgetown University. Shapiro delivers speech amid protests, files suit against university. Tracker entry for the 25 February 2016 event at California State University, Los Angeles: the speech, the protest that blocked access to the venue, the security fee dispute, and the subsequent First and Fourth Amendment suit that was dropped after the university changed its policies.
- 02.
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Campus Deplatforming Database. Compiled record of disinvitation and disruption incidents at U.S. campuses, used here as the source for the pattern of contested speaking events in this period rather than for any individual claim.
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