Milo Yiannopoulos’ Villanova speaking date canceled

He was due to speak on November 15th

Today Villanova canceled controversial journalist Milo Yiannopoulos’ appearance.

He was set to continue his “Dangerous Faggot” tour at the university on November 15th, but after much debate, officials met and decided to pull the plug on the appearance today.

Yiannopoulos was invited to speak by the Villanova College Republicans.

The Villanova College Republicans had planned his visit

The conservative organization’s choice of speaker became so contentious on campus, spurring furious discussion on Twitter, that this afternoon, petitions were already being drawn, the campus newspaper received a surge in “letters to the editor,” and some student groups were buying tickets to the event in protest.

The criticisms surrounding Milo’s appearance were largely aimed at the College Republicans.

Some members of the club explained the decision to bring Yiannopoulos to campus was left to a select few executive members, and that the entire club does not wish to be associated with his visit. Some members believed that Yiannopoulos still deserves to speak on campus.

Allie, a member of the club, said: “This isn’t about a club inviting a controversial speaker to campus, it’s about a university choosing to favor a ‘safe space’ over the expression of opinions on campus.”

The Villanova tour date has since been removed from his website

The decision to cancel Milo’s appearance comes after 109 professors at Texas Tech signed a letter condemning him for slurs and expressing concerns for his discourse, and Yiannopoulos was banned from numerous other universities across the United States and the U.K.

Talking to the PhillyVoice, Jonathan Gust from the university’s Media Relations team said the club did not follow proper protocol in organizing the appearance, when they failed to garner approval from staff advisers and the administrators in the Office of Student Life.

One communication professor was planning to stage protests with some student groups ahead of Milo’s appearance. She told The Tab she was looking forward to his appearance as an opportunity to condemn his extremely contentious discourses.

She said: “I’m not surprised that the event was canceled based on the hateful nature of his speech. I hope our students will use this opportunity to have important conversations about difference and free speech on our campus.”

Victoria Kurlander, a senior, told The Tab: “Despite his degrading comments and hypocrisy, I was looking forward to a true political debate on campus with an interesting aftermath to follow.

“But he’s absurd as fuck so I’m not surprised he’s not coming.”

Responding to The Tab’s request for comment, Milo simply said: “Faggots”.

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