The University of California at Berkeley, the scene of riots weeks ago that drove former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos from a campus speaking engagement, has rescinded an invitation to speak by College Republicans for Ann Coulter, the conservative author, and media personality. The University claims that it was unable to find a safe venue to make her remarks amidst threats of violence by student radicals. Coulter has vowed to show up at the University and speak anyway.
Coulter and her supporters suspect that the university is using the threats as an excuse to bar her from speaking instead of taking stern measures to make certain that anyone offering violence is arrested and students participating in a riot are expelled.
Hot Air suggests that the university, which is publically funded, has opened itself up to a suit for violating Coulter’s civil rights. Coulter may choose to pursue that route, depending on how her unsanctioned appearance on campus transpires. In the meantime, she is choosing a more public, confrontational approach.
Coulter has placed the university in an awkward position. She will without a doubt appear on the date she was scheduled to speak with TV cameras in tow. uc berkeley could try to bar her and have the police place her under arrest for trespassing should she show up. But such a response would play right into Coulter’s hands and would spark a nationwide scandal. President Trump has already hinted that he might cut off federal funding for the University back during the Yiannopoulos incident.
If Coulter is served similarly, he might well pull that trigger,
On the other hand, the university could accede to Coulter showing up anyway and provide sufficient police protection to ensure her safety, thus proving the lie that they were unable to do so. UC Berkeley would be compelled to suppress leftist students, perhaps violently.
That spectacle would also not look good in front of the TV cameras.
The dustup between Coulter and the University will shine a light on the problem facing many universities that have been turned into islands of Stalinism, with not only suppression of free speech, but madcap political correctness that is making student life a living hell.
Any kind of ugly scene involving Coulter is bound to spark a nationwide pushback.
A college education these days cost more than a home mortgage and often places students in debt for decades. Some, especially parents, may start to question the value of such an investment if Coulter is met with violence at UC Berkeley and it is broadcast so that the whole world will be watching.
