Summary

Students for a Conservative Voice (SCV), a recognized student organization at University of Minnesota invited Shapiro to speak at a campus lecture on February 26, 2018 because the group believed his viewpoints were underrepresented and treated unfairly by faculty and administrators at the university. At SCV’s request, Young Americans for Freedom agreed to provide assistance and financial support.

SCV students requested use of Willey Hall, a 1,056-person facility located on the Minneapolis campus near public transportation. However, despite the facility’s availability when requested, university officials gave the student group the run-around, arbitrarily capped the number of attendees to 500 persons, and banished the event to UMN’s St. Paul campus, depriving hundreds of students the opportunity to attend the Shapiro lecture and participate in a dialogue on matters of public concern. The university justified its discrimination because, as one official said, Shapiro’s speech would be “controversial and a security concern.”

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