NEW YORK— Some students at Columbia University, a center of leftist indoctrination, got a dose of reality Tuesday night as Dinesh D’Souza made the case for a conservative America.
Others were left in the halls, forbidden by the university from entering the lecture hall.
Issues arose with attendance at the lecture when Columbia University administrators began enforcing “rules” once the doors opened. Those who planned on attending last night’s lecture had to register online and then present their Columbia University IDs upon arrival. Case after case, students were turned away because they “weren’t on the University’s list” even though they presented an email confirmation that they had indeed signed up to attend the event.
Then came a last minute change that only undergraduate students were allowed to attend as graduate students were turned away for not carrying an undergraduate ID.
As the lecture start time rolled around, seats were available inside the auditorium.
A line of students, who for one reason or another were turned away or had not previously registered, waited for some common sense from Columbia’s administration to allow them to fill the empty seats and hear conservative ideas at such a liberal haven.
They did not.
A university administrator told a Young America’s Foundation staffer on the ground that “rules are rules” and the university should not be blamed for having empty seats because they were simply following protocol.
This is just another example of university policies that aim to hinder free speech on college campuses. Closing lectures to the public and only allowing a very specific group of students (undergraduates only in this case) to attend simply because the university is afraid of discourse is the reason why the American higher education system is graduating more and more snowflakes into the real world.
In a lecture titled, “The Case for Trump,” D’Souza, an award winning filmmaker and former Reagan policy analyst, alluded to the many accusations of the Left on President Donald J. Trump, pointing out their beliefs that he is a racist and a bigot. D’Souza offered a true history of the Left in America, citing several Columbia University historians and debunking their blurred narratives on progressivism.
Young America’s Foundation strives to make sure that free speech lives on college campuses and different ideas are heard. If your school is implementing and enforcing rules that hinder free speech, be sure to submit a tip to our Campus Bias Tipline.
To host your own lecture, contact Patrick Coyle, vice president of Young America’s Foundation at [email protected] or 1-800-USA-1776.
