This October, the College Republicans hosted conservative
commentator David Horowitz at the Memorial Union Theater as part of Islamo-Fascism
Awareness Week. The event, which drew many protesters and much controversy, was
provided security by the University of Wisconsin Police Department in order to
ensure the safety of the contentious speaker as well as those in attendance.
For their services, the UWPD charged the College Republicans nearly $1,300.
The fact that the event drew such significant security
concerns — and consequent fees — is undoubtedly due to Mr. Horowitz's far-right
views being promoted on our predominantly liberal campus.
To be sure, an event as controversial and potentially
violent as the Horowitz speech deserves adequate security to ensure the safety
of everyone involved. We believe the UWPD's security bill was merely a
reactionary measure taken to cover costs of ensuring public safety and not an
explicit act of bias against conservatives on campus as some, including Sen.
Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, have claimed.
In concurrence with the oft-cited motto of "sifting and
winnowing" for truth, no campus group should be expected to incur extra
security costs simply because of the controversial views a speaker may convey.
This type of misplaced burden has the potential to discourage the dissent and
debate that hallmark healthy public discourse, and we hope the university takes
the proper measures to fully fund any additional security fees for future
campus events.
To do otherwise would be to jeopardize the academic mission
of this university.