Syracuse University College Republicans Fighting to Bring Ben Shapiro to CampusSU College Republicans Fighting to Bring Ben Shapiro to Campus
A battle is brewing at SU, even without students on campus.
By
Carson Gambaro
Berkeley Students: OUR UNIVERSITY!
Gambaro: That was the sound of UC Berkeley students protesting Ben Shapiro. Now, the S-U College Republicans are fighting to bring the conservative speaker to campus. But Student Association candidates are pushing back, saying Shapiro is not inclusive to all students.
Golden: This is a person who will go after someone’s personal identity in public because they disagree with him.
Gambaro: The candidiates say Shapiro is a ‘hateful’ speaker based on his comments toward marginalized communities. However, Syracuse professor Roy Gutterman says a speaker like Shapiro could be good for the university.
Gutterman: Anytime you have a controversial speaker come to campus, it will lead to a larger discussion.
Gambaro:The College Republicans have been granted $39,000 to host Shapiro. If he is approved, he will speak at SU in October. Carson Gambaro, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The Syracuse University College Republicans are trying to host conservative speaker Ben Shapiro on campus in the fall. They’ve been met with heavy backlash from a candidate ticket for Student Association, however.
Justine Hastings and Ryan Golden, running for SA president and vice president, respectively, released a resolution condemning Shapiro’s appearance on campus.
“This is a person who will go after someone’s personal identity in public because they disagree with him,” Golden said. “This is about who is actually going to be respectful of our campus, and Ben Shapiro isn’t.”
The candidates point to controversial comments from Shapiro toward people of marginalized identities as examples of ‘hateful speech.’ They are pushing to ban Shapiro from coming to campus on the grounds that his presence may make some students feel unsafe or uncomfortable.
College Republicans chairman Rody Conway says the host of The Daily Wire does not incite any violence toward anyone.
“He doesn’t threaten people, counter-protesters do,” Conway said. “When we say ‘incite’, what we really mean is that his presence on campus incites people to react against him.”
The SU College Republicans chapter has started its own petition in support of Shapiro. So far, both sides have garnered around 200 student signatures.
This fiasco comes in wake of the Student Association Finance Board granting the College Republicans $39,000 to invite Shapiro to Syracuse. There are several negotiations left before Shapiro can be ultimately approved, however.
If Shapiro is approved, he will likely visit Syracuse University in October. SU Professor Roy Gutterman, an outspoken free speech advocate, says a controversial speaker could benefit the university.
“Anytime you have a controversial speaker come to campus, it will lead to a larger discussion, ” Gutterman said. “That’s how it’s supposed to be on a college campus. Speech, counter-speech.”
Several members of Syracuse University's Student Association have submitted a resolution condemning Ben Shapiro's planned visit to campus. The resolution refers to the conservative political commentator as a "white supremacist."
College Republicans Chairman Rody Conway explains why he feels Ben Shapiro is not a harmful speaker
CONWAY: Mr. Shapiro has thousands of words in print at this point. He’s 36. He’s been writing a column since he was 17, I don’t know how we haven’t contested a lot of these points yet. He does not believe that black people are biologically predisposed to crime. He has never said that, and he’s said explicitly that he doesn’t believe that several times because he’s been accused of it. He doesn’t threaten people, counter-protesters do. And when we say “incite”, what we’re really meaning is that his presence on campus incites people to react against him. And that’s what happened at Boston, that’s what happened at Berkeley, the list is innumerable. And I only have a minute, so I can’t contest every single point, but I would just ask that we all think how many of these things were taken out of context. And also how many of these things were said when he was 18? I can tell you the “civilian lives don’t matter” one was said when he was 18. And I will also point out that he has a list of, I think, 150 things at this point – things that he’s regretted saying….I would just say I would encourage people to go look at that list, it’s available.
Ryan Golden, a vice presidential candidate for the SU Student Association, on why he believes Ben Shapiro is not an appropriate speaker
Alright, so, I just wanted to discuss the idea of respecting…of him being respectful when he disagrees. Ben Shapiro has purposefully mis-gendered people who oppose him in public, and that’s not okay. That’s not safe. We’re supposed to be an inclusive campus. You know, there are other conservative speakers who don’t do that who will have respectful thought and respectful discussion. We would love to bring them, but Ben Shapiro is not that person. When we discuss, you know, how many people have signed what petition and whatever, this isn’t a popularity contest. This is about who is actually going to be respectful of our campus, and Ben Shapiro isn’t. We are literally talking about a man who has made dehumanizing comments about Arabs and Palestinians, making comments that they “live in their own sewage”, that they are, you know, “just wanting to kill people”. This isn’t okay especially when we have many people who are of different faiths who he has attacked. And, not to mention, once again this is a person who will go after someone’s personal identity in public because they disagree with him. As a gay man, I don’t appreciate the comments that “I can’t raise a child” and that “I don’t deserve the right to be married.” So, with that, I think that we should be discouraging this event.
