Ben Shapiro and Marquette Lecture

This is precisely why we cut off all donations to Marquette University and will not support its "mission."

DEVELOPING: Posts obtained by YAF show Marquette staff attempting to undermine a YAF lecture with @benshapiro. https://t.co/Me7ALcwwaq

— YAF (@yaf) January 30, 2017

Emily Jashinsky writes:

Facebook posts obtained by Young America’s Foundation show at least one member of Marquette University’s staff engaging in attempts to undermine an upcoming Ben Shapiro lecture organized by the school’s Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter.

In a comment on a Facebook thread, Chrissy Nelson, listed online as a program assistant for Marquette’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies, alleges that a director of diversity on campus suggested to her in a phone conversation that people should reserve seats to the lecture through Eventbrite posing as students in order “to take a seat away from someone who would actually go.” Nelson wrote that she would be “promoting” this suggestion, actively impeding Marquette students’ ability to hear from a respected conservative voice.

In a subsequent comment Nelson continued to boast that she “will encourage students to protest” Shapiro’s lecture the day after it occurs.

In yet another comment, Nelson, who began the post by identifying herself as “staff at Marquette,” wrote, “what has been directed to students is not to protest because the speaker has told Marquette he hopes students do protest to make an example of the protestors.”

Nelson also alleged that Marquette “allowed” Shapiro to speak only “because of the backlash DePaul University had with not allowing it,” in reference to DePaul’s widely-condemned decision to ban its school’s YAF chapter from hosting a Shapiro lecture on campus.

Nelson even explicitly directed former Marquette professor Susannah Bartlow to register for the lecture as a student to “take away a seat from a student that would be interested in going.” Bartlow was fired in 2015 for allowing the mural of a convicted cop killer to be painted in the resource center.

So, Nelson acknowledges the problem of overtly silencing free speech on the Marquette campus. It's necessary to be a little more sneaky about it.

The plan: Reserve seats for the lecture to take away seats from those actually interested in hearing Ben Shapiro.

I'd like to hear from Marquette's president Mike Lovell on this effort to undermine an event and shut down the free exchange of ideas on campus.

I also hope Ben Shapiro addresses the disgrace of Marquette's assault on John McAdams, associate professor of political science.