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Young Americans for Freedom is a conservative political group at Boston University. You can contact the group at yaf@bu.edu or stay updated on upcoming events on their Facebook page, Young Americans for Freedom at Boston University.
Last month, news broke of our work to bring political pundit Ben Shapiro to speak on campus. We have been aware of other student organizations pitching a fit that a high-profile conservative speaker might visit campus, and their intolerance and insecurities are on full display. The opposition to Shapiro’s upcoming lecture grossly mischaracterizes him and his views by slandering him as a racist, misogynist and a litany of other despicable things in an attempt to coerce the university into canceling his upcoming speaking engagement. YAF supports student groups’ free-speech right to protest, however, fascistic attempts to shut down the event are antithetical to the First Amendment rights we all share. In recent weeks, Boston University has acknowledged that providing a platform for speakers of any background is not an endorsement of that speech and that hosting a conventional conservative is not outlandish, which should be positions all BU students support.
There are numerous liberal events on campus every day, yet some students cannot handle one mainstream conservative speaking on campus. BU students can readily hear collectivist ideas from their own professors, read about them in the campus newspaper and attend a myriad of seminars, speaking events and gatherings on the approved leftist group-think at BU.
It is sad that word of a lecture can cause the resident tyrants-in-training to revolt. Their attacks and planned protests against Shapiro prove they are not for tolerance and diversity, but for intimidation and indoctrination. We highly encourage students of all political backgrounds to attend the event, which will include a question-and-answer session open to anyone, especially those who disagree because we actually want to progress the dialogue.