A week before a University of California, Berkeley student group is set to host its “Free Speech Week” with a controversial speaker lineup, college administrators and students are still locked in a battle over logistics.
The university first said the student group hosting the talks, called “Berkeley Patriot,” failed to submit “the necessary payments” to secure two auditoriums. It also noted that Berkeley Patriot only signed the appropriate contracts for the venues “at the last minute.”
“In spite of support provided by campus staff and administration to these students, the student organization fell short of what is minimally required by standing policies and standard contracts that apply to every other student organization on the Berkeley campus with regard to their tentative reservations at these two venues,” UC Berkeley said in a press release Saturday.
Milo Yiannopoulos, former Breitbart editor and rightwing provocateur, said the event will “still occur as scheduled” on campus, in a statement to Fox News Monday. Yiannopoulos also said his company, MILO, Inc., transferred $65,758.76 to the university to arrive by Monday morning.
The statement maintained that MILO, Inc., was not able to send the payment on Friday as the contract was given to Berkeley Patriot after close-of-business on the east coast.
Dan Mogulof, a university spokesman, told Fox News on Monday that the money would be refunded because it missed the deadline. He also defended the deadline as necessary for campus police to prepare for “potential criminal activity.”
UC Berkeley shelled out about $600,000 for security when conservative commentator Ben Shapiro spoke on campus last week. An additional $600,000 was spent in April for Ann Coulter’s visit – which ended up being cancelled, a university spokesman confirmed to Fox News.
But still, Berkeley Patriots and Yiannopoulos have accused Berkeley of attempting to “force its students to cancel” the event.
But while the exact venue of next week’s “Free Speech Week” is still up in the air, Berkeley Patriot released its confirmed speakers and topics list for Sept. 24 to Sept. 27 – which is notably different from the schedule of events provided by the university. UC Berkeley’s schedule does not include Coulter or Steve Bannon.
“UC Berkeley does not determine our speaker program. We do. They are attempting to suggest to the press that our headliners will no longer be appearing,” Yiannopoulos told Fox News.
Read on to see who Berkeley Patriots say will be speaking at the college campus.
Sunday, September 24 – Feminism Awareness Day
Sunday’s event will explore “the impact of feminism on free expression” and if it’s “good for freedom, for women and for society,” Berkeley Patriots said.
- Lucian Wintrich; the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Gateway Pundit website
- Lisa DePasquale; conservative author and activist
- Chadwick Moore; conservative journalist
- Milo Yiannopoulos; former Breitbart editor and provocateur
Monday, September 25 – Zuck 2020
Monday’s event will focus on free speech and the Internet. The event will address whether free speech can “survive under the progressive leftist monoculture of Silicon Valley,” a description stated.
- Monica Crowley; political commentator
- SABO; conservative street artist
- James Damore; fired Google employee who penned the now-infamous anti-diversity memo
Tuesday, September 26 – Islamic Peace & Tolerance
On Tuesday, the speakers will examine “the compatibility of Islam and Western values,” Berkeley Patriot said on the event page. It also said Europe has been led into “Islamization,” and the event will explore if the U.S. will do the same.
- Raheem Kassam; Breitbart London editor-in-chief
- Katie Hopkins; British columnist
- Erik Prince; founder of Blackwater, a private military company
- Milo Yiannopoulos; former Breitbart editor and provocateur
- Pamela Geller; political commentator
- David Horowitz; conservative author
Wednesday, September 27 – Mario Savio is Dead
Wednesday’s event will address political correctness and higher education. An award also will be presented to an “individual that best exemplified courageous free speech expression over the last year” in the name of Mario Savio, an activist and leader of Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement in 1964.
- Mike Cernovich; blogger and self-described American Nationalist
- Ariana Rowlands; college activist and Breitbart contributor
- Stelian Onufrei; businessman and congressional candidate
- Alex Marlow; Breitbart News Network editor-in-chief
- Milo Yiannopoulos; former Breitbart editor and provocateur
- Steve Bannon; Breitbart executive and former White House chief strategist under President Donald Trump
- Ann Coulter; political commentator
Additional appearances
Joy Villa, a singer who notably wore a Make America Great Again dress to the Grammy Awards earlier this year, said on Twitter that she will perform during “Free Speech Week” along with Kaya Jones, the pop singer who was formally with the Pussycat Dolls. Jones is also a Trump supporter.
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