STORRS — The University of Connecticut is facing some backlash days before Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour is set to speak at the university.
Sarsour, a racial justice and civil rights activist and one of the four co-organizers of the January 21, 2017, Women’s March on Washington, is expected to give a speech on campus this Wednesday.
According to Fox News Insider, Max Turgeon of the UConn College Republicans said on “Fox & Friends” that Sarsour’s invitation did not receive the same review process as conservative speaker Ben Shapiro.
In response to Turgeon’s comment’s on Fox & Friends, UConn’s spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz issued the following statement:
“Although not everyone may realize it, Shapiro did in fact speak at UConn, and his review process was exactly the same as everyone else’s – everyone was treated equally. We don’t make our judgements based on the speaker’s content or ideology, the review is the same for any speaker and is focused on making the events safe for everyone.”
Republican speaker Shapiro and Democratic speaker Nathan Robinson both held political speeches at UConn for the first time since the Lucian Wintrich incident in November 2017.
Following the altercation involving Wintrich and Catherine Gregory, the University issued new guidelines for speakers and all campus events.
“A speaker’s presence on campus doesn’t mean that UConn as an institution has endorsed his or her message. However, we believe public universities should be places where differing views can be expressed respectfully and where our students and other guests can consider and challenge a variety of opinions,” Reitz added.
