What counts as “aligning” with the values of a Catholic university?

It depends: Is the institution more Catholic or more a university?

You already know the answer. With the exception of a few institutions of higher learning, no college or university deviates much from the current Narrative.

University of San Diego Bans @MattWalshBlog Speech, Calls Conservative Beliefs ‘Grossly Offensive’

“We hope that we can still bring Matt Walsh to voice conservative beliefs on campus, which are heavily underrepresented.”https://t.co/rxQaTpU7lh pic.twitter.com/MJGY9ljKC7

— YAF (@yaf) August 21, 2023

The University of San Diego is a private Catholic university, so you would expect that when the College Republicans asked to bring uber-Catholic Matt Walsh to speak at the school he would get, if not a warm welcome, at least a hearing.

Right?

RIGHT?!

Members of the student government unanimously voted to deny the request in full.

“As a Catholic institution, I do think that it is one of the most important things that we hold our Catholic faith first and if he does not align with the values of the Catholic church then that is something we should consider regarding allocating funding,” Isabella Sevilla, a leftist student senator who helped bring a drag show to campus last semester, said in response to the conservative students’ presentation.

Senator Jacob Aragon cited baseless calls by leftist medical organizations for Walsh to be prosecuted by the Department of Justice as a consequence of speaking out against gender ideology as his rationale for voting against the lecture.

Another student government member’s ridiculous argument was that conservative free speech and expression should not be allowed on campus because that may lead to those on the Left being too uncomfortable to express themselves: “You say that you value freedom of expression, but do you really think people would feel comfortable to express themselves with someone who is known notoriously for that [What is a Woman?] movie and also for being the recipient of the Transphobe of Year 2022 Award?”

Not only did the student government deny funding to pay for his visit but the university administration has denied the College Republicans permission to have him speak on campus at all because his beliefs are “grossly offensive” to the Catholic institution.

Walsh, for those of you who live under a rock, is the Daily Wire host who produced “What is a Woman?,” a movie that has triggered everybody to the left of sanity. The movie itself is extremely effective precisely because it isn’t a harangue. It allows alphabet activists, gender-bending doctors, and academics to lay out their ideas in their own words.

It is devastating. Some real gems come out of the movie because alphabet ideology, when laid out in plain words, is insane. You wind up gettin some gems like Dr. Michele Forcier asking the immortal question “Does a chicken cry?”

The College Republicans decided not to press their luck by having Walsh speak about gender ideology, and instead agreed to have Walsh speak on whether people should self-censor. Ironically he never will have the opportunity, since the institution has decided to pre-empt the discussion by censoring Walsh.

“We welcome students from all different political backgrounds, spectrums and everything to bring their ideas and values and engage in respectful, productive conversations,” a USD College Republicans representative said at the meeting when the group asked for $21,000 in funding.

“…Not being offended at all is not realistic in this world,” a CR member said in the presentation, according to a YouTube video of the student government meeting.

“…The point of this event is we want to get past that and make a space on this campus where people of all different political backgrounds and ideologies can come together and peacefully discuss their thoughts.”

USD’s Associated Student Government Budget Committee recommended the full student government deny the funding request because while it supports free speech, Walsh is “not aligned” with the values of the student government, according to the committee’s presentation.

One student government representative argued other universities have rejected Walsh because he has “provocative positions on immigration, communities of color, Muslims and members of the LGBT community that are in contradiction to Jesus’ great commandment to love God and love thy neighbor.”

I don’t know enough to opine deeply about the student government’s denial of funding for Walsh’s talk. It strikes me as censorious, but whether they had the right to do so based on their charter I couldn’t say. They have funded all sorts of left-wingers who disdain Catholic theology, but in principle it makes sense for the student government to have some say on the range of opinions that student fees would be used to promulgate. I disagree with their decision, but I get it.

On the other hand, the administration has clearly gone out of bounds.

However, according to Jackson, in subsequent meetings with USD administrators after the student government funding request was denied, several campus officials allegedly told her Walsh is transphobic and too offensive to speak on campus.

USD’s media relations department could not immediately be reached Tuesday by The College Fix seeking comment on those meetings and what was discussed.

Nick Baker, a spokesman for YAF, a national conservative student organization, told The College Fix in a telephone interview Tuesday his group is working to drum up public pressure to compel campus officials to reverse the decision to allow Walsh to speak, hopefully sometime this fall.

He said although the funding request was denied, “YAF is always happy to try and help.”

“Our main hurdle will be convincing administration that they should allow multiple perspectives to be heard,” Baker said.

In his write up on the situation, Baker pointed out that USD has hosted “a parade full of leftist speakers. Black Lives Matter Founder Patrisse Cullors, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Chelsea Clinton have all been allowed to address students, despite their beliefs that directly oppose many basic principles of the Catholic faith.”

I hate to tell the administrators, but even the Pope is classified as “transphobic” by every Leftist in the universe–he has described transgender ideology as “evil,” which last I checked is hardly affirmative of their ideology. Walsh is not advocating any position that is not held by vast numbers of Americans, and arguably the majority according to polls.

Walsh is blunt, yes. But he doesn’t advocate for hate or violence, just for telling the truth.

I suspect that none of the administrators has even bothered to watch “What is a Woman,” and are simply mouthing the same platitudes as every left-winger in the world. And if they choose to remain ignorant there is little we can do about that.

But enforcing academic freedom, on the other hand, we should do our best to ensure. I can guarantee that the University of San Diego has hosted anti-semites, communists, abortionists, and a wide range of speakers with positions that are counter to Catholic teaching and far more damaging than anything Matt Walsh could possibly say. I would wager there are professors at the school who would be willing to explain why communism–an ideology that has left a hundred million corpses in its wake–is a positively good thing.

They would explain that academic freedom requires them to be open to all views.

Just not those which assert that basic biology is real. That is too offensive to bear.