TIL a controversial speaker cost my college $15,000 in security fees that we had to cover through student activity funds

Back in 2019, we had this guy come speak who was known for inflammatory stuff about immigration. The administration made us pay for extra security, metal detectors, and even off-duty cops. Total came to around $15,000 from our student government budget. We had to cancel three other events that semester to afford it. Has anyone else seen their school use security costs to basically block unpopular speakers?

2 comments

2 Comments

maxmurphy21d ago

Damn, that sucks. Yeah, colleges totally use security costs to quietly kill controversial speakers.

elizabeth43820d agoTop Commenter

University of California Berkeley spent over $600,000 on security for a single Milo Yiannopoulos speech back in 2017. That's not an exaggeration, they literally charged the student group that invited him. And it's not just right-wing speakers either. I've seen left-leaning activists get slapped with insane security fees when they try to speak at certain private colleges. It's a really effective way to shut down anyone controversial without having to actually ban them. The school just sets the cost so high the group can't afford it, then they get to say "well they canceled, not us.