Editor's Note: This column was originally published with the wrong byline. Sorry about that, folks.
It happened again this week at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. Another conservative speaker was harassed by liberal activists. In this case, Breitbart contributor Milo Yiannopoulos was not allowed to finish his presentation to a group of students. He was bullied and threatened and his speech was literally shut down by a group of Black Lives Matter activists. In fact, one of the free speech haters ripped a microphone from the hands of the student interviewing Yiannopoulos.
Ironically, the protest leader was Edward Ward, a local church minister who claimed that the presentation was “hate speech” that needed to be halted. During the raucous protest, one of the activists threatened to punch the speaker if he did not stop talking.
While the event was ruined by these protesters, DePaul University campus security looked on and refused to intervene. Amazingly, Breitbart paid for the event security and is rightfully asking for their money back.
In response to the fiasco, the sponsoring organization, the DePaul University College Republicans, issued a statement. “Regrettably, militant protestors decided to hijack the event. Loud whistles, threats of violence and straight up suppression of speech. There was no discourse, no Q&A, just fascism. Additionally, DePaul security’s response to the thuggery was utterly shameful. We spent thousands of dollars and countless hours to get the proper security and put this event on, but when security was actually needed, they did nothing. At a minimum, DePaul University administrators should apologize and hold those responsible for the fiasco responsible for their behavior.”
The scared security staff at DePaul are no different from the scared campus administrators across the country who refuse to criticize hateful liberal activists. For example, last November at the University of Missouri, liberal activists forced the President and Chancellor to resign over supposed inaction about questionable “racist” events on campus. In February, at the University of California, Los Angeles, demonstrators disrupted a speech by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. They tried to storm the stage, pulled the fire alarm and did everything possible to prevent a conservative message from being presented to the students.
It is not just conservative speakers who are motivating these liberal protests. In recent weeks, students at Emory University in Atlanta and Scripps College in Claremont, California went ballistic when the name “Trump” was displayed on their campus. In one case “Trump” was written on a sidewalk and steps and in the other case it was written on a student’s white board. In both incidents, campus police were called, but unlike the event this week at DePaul University, they responded and investigated.
To clarify, it is not a crime to write the name “Trump” on a white board, but it is a crime to disrupt an event, threaten violence and forcibly rip a microphone away from an interviewer.
Today, the liberal activists own the conversation on college campuses. They have the vast majority of professors and administrators on their side. Liberal celebrities and politicians are invited to give commencement speeches and are welcome on campus throughout the school year, while conservatives are treated like an enemy and completely shunned. If they do happen to receive a rare invitation, they are besieged by hateful activists who are not interested in civil discourse and debate.
Colleges are supposed to be laboratories for ideas where debates are encouraged and a diverse set of viewpoints are welcome. Today, only liberalism is allowed and our students are not being educated, but indoctrinated.
The real losers are the parents who pay exorbitant tuition, and especially the students who are not allowed to investigate issues and explore different ideas. They are expected to follow the liberal orthodoxy without question.
With this type of background, it is no wonder that so many young people are ill equipped to succeed in the “real” world where contrary opinions are allowed and critical thinking is actually valued.
Universities are doing a very poor job preparing their students for post-college life. Too many of them are not only saddled with thousands of dollars in student debt, but also a bevy of unworkable liberal ideas that have never been challenged.