Opinion: Penn State student fees for gang leader ‘indefensible and inexcusable’
On Oct. 24, Penn State will host fascist gang leader Gavin McInnes and right-wing troll Alex Stein for a “comedy show.” In applying for nearly $7,500 in funding (a $6,500 honorarium, plus airfare), the event was billed by student organization Uncensored America as “an opportunity to hear different political viewpoints in a funny and entertaining way.”
Pleading to the University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC) that Mr. McInnes has “stepped down and veered away from the Proud Boys” — an organization founded by McInnes, now denoted a terrorist entity by the Canadian government — Uncensored America argued that Mr. McInnes’s visit would be “beneficial ... because we are not used to seeing this on campus.” The funding, sourced from mandatory student fees, was granted without objection.
Responding to community outrage, Penn State has predictably claimed helplessness against “free speech.” Three administrators wrote on Oct. 12 that “... our University neither supports nor condones the vitriolic and hateful language ... used by these speakers in the past.” UPAC further notes on their website that “remaining viewpoint neutral is an integral part of the role we play… The content and opinions of any event’s speaker(s) reside solely with the speaker(s) and their respective organization and not with (Penn State or UPAC).”
Let’s start with the obvious: there is a big difference between allowing hateful, inflammatory speech on campus (what Penn State is pleading) and soliciting a gang leader with mandatory student fees for that speech (what Penn State is doing). UPAC’s ethically dubious, “see-no-evil” approach to event funding should particularly concern the students that the UPAC is supposed to represent. Reading their guidelines plainly, UPAC is saying that any visitor sponsored by any registered student organization — no matter how abhorrent — should be feted with student funds, as long as their budget meets UPAC’s guidelines. What would stop UPAC from welcoming and paying heartily for a meet-and-greet with a Grand Wizard of the KKK? What would not be funded?
Likewise, Old Main uses many strong words to decry these speakers’ rhetoric, but none to comment on this payment. Are we to believe that Mr. McInnes and Mr. Stein’s speech is abridged if Penn State doesn’t funnel them a student-funded honorarium? That is nonsense. Students and parents should not be forced to pay for this, and the absence of administrative courage on this point speaks volumes about Penn State’s ethics.
Even worse, Mr. McInnes has an open history of fomenting violence, yet Penn State is ignoring its own precedent for disinviting such speakers. In 2017, former President Barron responded to the cancellation of an event with white supremacist Richard Spencer by noting that “... Mr. Spencer is not welcome on our campus, as this event ... presents a major security risk ...” Like Mr. Spencer, Mr. McInnes’s public appearances have been marred by violence perpetrated by his gang (and in at least one case, local skinheads), and several Proud Boys leaders are currently on trial for seditious conspiracy charges related to Jan. 6. Further, Mr. McInnes publicly directed his gang members via his Censored.tv platform as recently as Sept. 27, negating Uncensored America’s claims that he has abandoned his gang lifestyle. Old Main’s complacent attitude to Mr. McInnes’s well-documented thuggery is concerning, and all but invites on-campus violence during his visit. Perhaps the university will hire additional security — but, as occurred during a previous Uncensored America event, those costs will likely be borne by taxpayers, not the speakers and their hosts.
Behind the PR smokescreen, the facts are clear: Penn State is directing student fees to an active, violent and fascist gang leader. Such a payment is indefensible and inexcusable. Perhaps Old Main is kowtowing to the most right-wing legislators in Harrisburg, so that a few more state dollars may enter Penn State’s coffers. Perhaps, then, McInnes and Stein should bring their “comedy” to the steps of Old Main, so we can all see the principles that Penn State’s leaders choose to uphold and defend.