Though ranked best for free speech, school silences Turning Point USA
University of Chicago staff backed down on a plan to cancel a “controversial” event with commentator Tim Pool, scheduled for Oct. 9.
Just weeks after being named the best school for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the college told organizers the event would need to be canceled.
The cancellation attempt follows the school’s long history of denying a Turning Point USA chapter, despite the school’s professed commitment to free speech.
The Chicago Thinker reports:
In an obtained email exchange, and only with the description of the event given and knowledge of it being booked by UChicago TPUSA, [the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures] told Thinker organizers that their event “might be, as the terminology goes “controversial,” and therefore could not occur in Breasted Hall on October 9th due to controversial events allegedly requiring an infeasible heightened security arrangement where ISAC would close its museum gallery. ISAC further says they should have been informed about the event’s “controversial” nature earlier. ISAC asked no questions about the “controversial” nature of events in their Event Request Form, or in subsequent email exchanges with Thinker organizers to book the venue.
Shared emails show the center placing the blame on the event organizers for not telling them about every detail ahead of time.
The Thinker reported further:
When Thinker organizers asked ISAC what aspects of their stated event were “controversial” and thereby necessitated their heightened security arrangement, ISAC did not provide an answer. ISAC further blamed Thinker organizers for their event’s cancellation, saying that they should have informed ISAC preemptively that their event required a heightened security due to being “controversial”: “It is unfortunate that you did not inform us that your event required special arrangements, and that I had to find out about it indirectly.” ISAC did not disclose their heightened security arrangement policy for controversial events, define what “controversial” event contents were, or ask Thinker organizers if they considered their event to be “controversial” and required heightened security.
The event will go forward after organizers “escalated concerns” to administrators and FIRE.
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