My school canceled a speaker last minute and the whole week felt off

So last Tuesday, our student group had a professor from another college coming to talk about internet privacy laws. We had the room booked and flyers up for a month. Then on Monday afternoon, the dean's office emailed us saying they were 'reconsidering the event's alignment with campus values' and pulled the permit. The whole week just felt tense, with people arguing in the dining hall about whether it was censorship. Has your school ever done something like this, and how did you handle it?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_chen931mo ago

Ugh, classic admin move. Did they at least give you a real reason, or was it just that vague "campus values" nonsense? My school once canceled a talk on student debt because they said it was "too political." The whole thing just makes everyone argue for weeks over free speech while the people in charge hide in their offices.

black.beth1mo ago

Yeah that "campus values" line is just their go-to excuse. You gotta push for the written policy they're citing, because half the time it doesn't exist. Once you have that, you can actually fight it.