Conservative Students Sue UC Berkeley Over Cancellation of Coulter Speech
Young America’s Foundation Spokesman Spencer Brown says a lawsuit filed against the University of California, Berkeley, for blocking conservative commentator Ann Coulter aims to prevent the university from blocking certain types of speech.
“First and foremost, this is about students’ rights on this campus,” Brown told the FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney.
The university's decision to cancel Coulter's appearance, Brown says, demonstrates a double standard in how the school treats conservative students.
"Here we have a school, UC Berkeley, that has decided conservative students on their campus aren’t required to follow the same first amendment rights as other students.”
Brown says even some liberal politicians have taken a stance on free speech and come out in support of the organization’s lecture program.
“You’ve seen them take a position here that’s so indefensible in banning free speech for conservatives, that even prominent liberals such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have come out and voiced their support for Young America’s Foundation’s campus lecture there.”
After initially cancelling the speech, which had been scheduled for this Thursday, April 27, UC officials did offer an alternative date for Coulter could speak. But Brown explained that the organization, as well as Coulter, are not happy with the new date suggested.
“The date that they picked for us, that May 2 date, is what the school calls their dead week and so students aren’t even on campus for the large part, because it’s the week in between the last week of classes and their final exams.”
Brown sees the alternative date as a veiled attempt by the university to suppress a conservative view on campus.
“It was just another attempt by Berkeley to block students from hearing a conservative viewpoint.”