UVA student pushes back after school paper calls for Mike Pence event to be cancelled for 'violent rhetoric'
Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom encourages students to attend and respectfully challenge Pence
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A University of Virginia student spoke out Friday after the college’s student newspaper demanded that former Vice President Pence be barred from speaking on campus.
The student paper is trying to cancel the event based on their argument that Pence pushes "violent rhetoric."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}More than 120 students at Yale Law School protested a bipartisan free speech event on March 10. ( Yana Paskova/Getty Images, File) (Google Maps)
Nick Cabrera, chairman of Young Americans for Freedom at the university, encouraged the newspaper editorial board to attend the event in order to hear a perspective that is different from their own.
"We’ve been seeing this trend commonly throughout campuses across the United States," Cabrera said on "Fox & Friends First" Friday. "If there’s some speech that you disagree with as a leftist, you automatically go, and you try to cancel it."
Cabrera said the university spent $33,000 to host a critical race theory proponent via Zoom call, but his organization was denied funding.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's really the Young Americans for Freedom that are bringing students together, and we are bringing conservative voices to college campuses," he said. "That’s really important."
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In March, a group of Yale students attempted to silence a conservative speaker who was addressing the importance of free speech during a bipartisan panel. Police were ultimately called to escort the more than 100 students out of the building.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s definitely a one-way street here at the University of Virginia and definitely at Yale and other college campuses," Cabrera told host Ashley Strohmier, noting the students’ opposition is solely toward conservative speakers.
Former Vice President Mike Pence gives a speech on the stage of the Varkert Bazar cultural centre in Budapest on Sept. 23, 2021, during the fourth demographic summit. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images) (ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)
Cabrera said he attends events for leftist speakers in order to hear new viewpoints.
"That’s how we increase and promote open dialogue in a free and safe environment."
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While protests are expected at Pence’s speaking event, Cabrera hopes opposition voices will take a more civil approach rather than create chaos like what was seen at the Yale event.
"We encourage anyone that disagrees with Mike Pence and what he stands for to come and ask a question," he said. "Come and challenge him in a respectful and open debate."