GU right to reject Shapiro

I want to commend Gonzaga University on their decision to reject the Campus Republicans’ request to have Ben Shapiro speak at the university. Shapiro’s irrational beliefs and unsubstantiated attacks, particularly on minority groups, have no place at an institution that seeks truth and knowledge, and pursues the growth of all their diverse students as whole human persons. Shapiro is a transphobic, and clearly has no place on a college campus by his own admission — he claims that paying tuition is supporting “the militant homosexual agenda.” He’s also an outspoken climate change denier, comparing the acceptance of the science of climate change to a religion. He has classed all Arabs as people who “like to bomb crap and live in open sewage” and even called Sesame Street “liberal propaganda.”

Because he has no accountability for the absurd lies he spews, he should not be invited as a campus lecturer. Maybe a comedian, since he’s merely an entertainer, but an unentertaining one. Shame on Gonzaga Campus Republicans for attempting to normalize his bile and invective.

Kevin S. Decker

Spokane