‘Not only does this show that the university has little faith in its students’ ability to use the internet, it also coddles and shields students from opposing viewpoints’
A free speech advocate was asked to buy liability insurance because she shares the last name with former President Donald Trump, according to Trinity University.
Cherise Trump, the executive director of Speech First, is not related to the former president, but students would probably assume she is and thus the risk of violence was heightened, according to administrators at the Texas university.
The Free Beacon reported:
When Young Conservatives of Texas asked Trump to speak at Trinity University this month, the school’s director of risk management, Jennifer Adamo, warned about the possibility of “disruption.” The talk posed an “elevated risk,” she told student organizers in a February 20 email, because “there is potential for others to mistakenly believe that Cherise Trump is related to Donald Trump.”
Adamo “recommended” the purchase of an insurance plan.
Trump (pictured) did buy the liability insurance for $76 and the event on Friday went off just fine, but she told the Free Beacon that the whole situation is “ridiculous.”
“Trinity should be fostering a campus environment that encourages its students to hear differing ideas without turning to mob violence,” she said prior to the event. “Not only does this show that the university has little faith in its students’ ability to use the internet, it also coddles and shields students from opposing viewpoints.”
Trump said the conservative student group “did a great job putting on an event that was full of excellent discussion from multiple views.”
@Speech_First we fight for college students’ right to speech. Ironically, this was the exact topic I was invited to @Trinity_U to speak about. And although the admin made a big deal about my last name, made me get insurance…(1/2) https://t.co/GeNkDEqZc4
— Cherise Trump (@cherisetrump) March 6, 2023
“Maybe stop treating your students like spoiled children and suck it up,” she wrote further on Twitter, in a comment directed at Trinity officials.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression wants assurances from Trinity University that it will not impose extra fees on students in the future because of how people might react to an event.
“Trinity cannot require that certain speakers pay extra to speak on campus at the invite of students, especially when such a requirement is imposed in a viewpoint-based manner,” the group wrote to the university on March 3.
Student organizer Ellis Jacoby told the Free Beacon there had never been problems with past Young Conservative speakers, even ones on topics such as critical race theory and immigration.
“I haven’t had any problems with any protests or disturbances at any events I’ve hosted on campus, so I don’t think there’s a chance of anything happening at this event,” he said prior to the speech.
MORE: Speech First finds freshman orientations push DEI ‘propaganda’
IMAGE: Hillsdale College
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