You just cannot make this sh*t up!
College Debate Team Comes Out Against DebateIn response to a controversial campus speaker, James Madison University's debate team announced that "a general climate of free speech should not extend to requiring us to platform or amplify ideas that are exclusionary, discriminatory, or hostile."
EMMA CAMP
4.20.2023
This week, the James Madison University debate team made a surprising announcement for, well, a debate team.
The group condemned an upcoming speech on "transgenderism" by conservative commentator Liz Wheeler, arguing that she is "attempting to antagonize and harass highly at-risk groups like transgender students" and calling on the student group sponsoring the event to revoke their support. While there is a lot to criticize about Wheeler's position on transgender people, it's nonetheless troubling that a student group devoted to debate and "free speech" would so fiercely call for the cancellation of an event based purely on a speaker's political beliefs.
Wheeler's event, hosted by JMU's chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), is set to take place on April 26. The lecture, which has already had to move location due to security concerns, will focus on "the ideology of transgenderism," according to the chapter's social media posts. Soon after the event was announced, many took to social media to express their disapproval and get the university administration to cancel the event.
"Having a woman who spreads hate about trans people come to what is supposed to be a safe space for LGBTQ+ students is sick. jmu is a joke for this," wrote one anonymous Twitter user.
"It is disgusting to see @JMU tout a slogan of 'Be the Change' while allowing a transphobic nut to come to campus and spout harmful lies," one JMU alum tweeted.
Several student and faculty groups also rushed to condemn the event. While many statements simply stated the group's support of transgender students, several made oblique calls for the university administration to intervene, presumably to stop the event.
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Source:
https://reason.com/2023/04/20/college-debate-team-comes-out-against-debate/
