Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, is reportedly going to great lengths to censor Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos’ upcoming visit to campus.
The Tigers for Liberty, a conservative student group at the University who is hosting the event, decided to reach out to Yiannopoulos in response to an event a progressive student group recently held on microaggressions. Although left-wing student groups have had no problem organizing events, university officials have placed unusual restrictions on Yiannopoulos’ upcoming lecture.
The students have been asked to withhold from promoting the event around campus. Administrators told the club that they were not permitted to post promotional flyers around campus or post on social media about the event.
The club is also being asked to provide $1,600 in additional funding for security for the 90-minute event, with the university specifically mandating that eight university police officers be present during Yiannopoulos’ lecture. Although this isn’t the first time that university administrators have gone to extra lengths with security during Yiannopoulos’ Dangerous Faggot tour, there have been no incidents thus far.
With no other way to raise funds for security, club leaders asked administrators if they were permitted to turn to crowdfunding to raise the money. Although the university decided that crowd-fundraising was permissible, an administrator allegedly told the club that “[crowd fundraising] will not raise enough money” and encouraged them to give up.
Trinity University students pay $150 per semester in student service fees which are intended for use by clubs like the Tigers for Liberty. In the 2014-2015 school year, Trinity University’s finance committee granted $4,142.62 in funding to the Trinity Progressives, the most of any student organization on campus.
The Tigers for Liberty have said that they will do everything in their power to make the event happen despite the roadblocks set by the university. They have created a GoFundMe page where they have already made significant progress towards their goal.
Tom Ciccotta writes about Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity for Breitbart. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or on Facebook.
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