Free speech group to host Breitbart's Milo Yiannopoulos at Clemson

An unofficial student group at Clemson University has scheduled provocative conservative Breitbart News tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at the university this fall and the announcement has already rankled some in the Clemson community who say the event serves to show Clemson’s continuing divide on race and equality issues.

Yiannopoulos, an icon of the online alternative right wing movement, writes for the conservative news and opinion website whose executive chairman, Steve Bannon, just became GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign manager. Yiannopoulos is an outspoken critic of political correctness, feminism and Islam and frequently uses foul language in speeches while he targets those he believes to be pushing ideologies of the progressive left.   

He is a frequent speaker who has been invited to college campuses by Republican college groups. Those visits have been controversial as protestors either tried to shut the events down or marched on stage to disrupt his speaking.

A group of Clemson students called WeRoar Clemson, who call themselves free speech advocates, announced that Yiannopoulos will speak at Tillman Hall auditorium on Oct. 18.

“We brought Milo to campus because he is a beacon for free speech and does an excellent job pointing out the progressive hypocrisy on college campuses,” said Zach Talley, a member of WeRoar Clemson.

Yiannopoulos was recently banned for life from Twitter for frequently encouraging his legion of 288,000 followers to harass other users. A statement from Twitter after it permanently suspended his account said “no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online, and our rules prohibit inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others.” Yiannopoulos called it a cowardly move by Twitter and an attack on free speech.

In an announcement about the event, which is titled Make Clemson Great Again, Yiannopoulos said his Clemson appearance promised to be a “stunner.”

He previously has spoken at DePaul University, where his appearance was interrupted by African-American activists and requests to hold an event with another Breitbart columnist and a second event with Yiannopoulos were denied, citing security risks.

His appearance at Clemson is a private, ticketed event, Talley said. Clemson University spokeswoman Robin Denny said WeRoar Clemson is not an official student organization recognized by the university.

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"As an educational institution, Clemson is committed to providing an environment where a full range of viewpoints and opinions can be aired in a civil and respectful manner, even if those opinions are unpopular or distasteful to some within our university community," said Clemson spokesman Mark Land.

The group reserved the space and will be paying for police protection and contracted private security, Talley said.

“We are in the process of finalizing arrangements for him now,” Talley said.

After the group announced the event, tempers flared on social media with barbs flying both ways, but A.D. Carson, an activist leader of See the Stripes, which has marched and protested for diversity reforms at Clemson, said the general consensus among students he’s spoken with is to allow the group to host its event and not draw more attention to it.

“There have definitely been people who are talking about it,” Carson said. “If it is a matter of the freedom to think and say and act in certain kinds of ways – so long as they don’t infringe upon other people’s abilities to have an environment where they are not physically harmed or impeded in any way, you know, I guess that’s what a university is supposed to provide.”

Carson said the event is reflective of the divide that exists at Clemson after more than two years of on-and-off protests and calls for change from some students, faculty and staff on a host of issues.

“If their idea of making Clemson great again is bringing in this particular guy who says and does the kind of stuff that he says and does, then I guess that is their view of the future. Our view of the future looks different than theirs,” Carson said.

Alexander Cullen, another WeRoar member, called Yiannopoulos a “cultural litmus test” who espouses extreme opinions but welcomes students who would calmly dismantle his arguments or chose not to attend his events.

"What is frightening is it isn’t the “rude” speaker who resorts to violence or the shutting down of events through disruptive and damaging actions, it’s students,” Cullen said. “But supporting Milo’s right to come espouse those opinions here on campus is different than to support of the ideas themselves.”

Carson said it’s not surprising that they would bring someone like Yiannopoulos to Clemson “in response to things that may have gone on last semester, particularly with the Sikes sit in.”

The nine-day sit-in at Clemson’s administrative offices in Sikes Hall last semester came in response to an incident where someone hung bananas from a sign that honored African-American contributions to Clemson’s history. Five students were arrested during the sit-in when they refused to leave the building’s interior.

Talley said the event is not a response to the sit-in, “but to a growing trend on our campus that says certain type of speech isn't just bad but should be banned. Administrators have begun encouraging policies that assume guilt before innocence and elevate political correctness over truth. Milo speaks about both of these things.”

At the beginning of the fall semester, President Jim Clements sent an email to students listing a number of diversity initiatives, including increasing the number of African-American students and faculty.

Building a more inclusive campus climate was a focus during orientation and the university has continued monthly inclusivity luncheons to encourage open dialogue, he said. The university has also planned for inclusivity training and education for faculty and staff throughout the year, he said.

“We are a community of scholars who encourages and supports the expression of differing thoughts and opinions between individuals and groups in a respectful and safe environment,” he said. “Although we may have different views, different opinions and different backgrounds, we have one commonality — we are all a part of the Clemson community, and we value honesty, integrity and respect.”