Former Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to speak at the University of Virginia on April 12. The Sunday before last the student newspaper published an opinion piece by a freshman student who said she felt suicidal in her first semester at the school because of the campus environment and then argued that Pence’s invitation should be rescinded.

Last semester, being gay here and dealing with homophobia became too much. As a first year, I struggled with what my expectations of college were supposed to be, especially as it related to being true to myself and my sexuality. I believe in complete honesty, which is why I will share that I became depressed and suicidal last semester over how othered I felt here. I was made to feel like there was something wrong with me because I am gay. I seriously considered transferring. Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to stay here and fight for equality and change so that future LGBTQ+ students would never have to feel the way that I did…

I do not feel comfortable being in an academic environment where anti-LGBTQ+ individuals are welcomed with open arms to speak. The University prides itself on the concept of the academical village, where Grounds is both a home and an institution of higher learning. We cannot invite people into our home who deny any part of our community or its humanity. I sincerely hope that we as University students can consider how to help our fellow students feel safe and welcome. We can disagree on things like our favorite dining hall, or more political arguments like tax policy, but we should not disagree on one another’s humanity. The community of trust begins with respecting and welcoming all students. This can start with YAF rescinding its offer for Pence to speak.

Presenting the opinion of one freshman student is perfectly fine. People are free to take it for what it’s worth and agree or disagree. But a few days later the paper’s editorial board published its own piece calling for Pence to be deplatformed. The piece opened by mentioning several recent UVA controversies over free speech, including an op-ed published by the NY Times which I wrote about here. But for the Cavalier Daily, the issue is very simple: [emphasis added]

So-called “perspectives” should not be welcomed when they spread rhetoric that directly threatens the presence and lives of our community members. The LGBTQ+ individuals Pence has attacked, the Black lives he refuses to value and the successful stories of immigration he and the former president hope to prevent — these very people are our peers, our neighbors and our community members. We refuse to condone platforming Pence…

So-called “perspectives” should not be welcomed when they spread rhetoric that directly threatens the presence and lives of our community members. The LGBTQ+ individuals Pence has attacked, the Black lives he refuses to value and the successful stories of immigration he and the former president hope to prevent — these very people are our peers, our neighbors and our community members. We refuse to condone platforming Pence…

Once so-called politics turn into transphobia, homophobia and racism, they are no longer mere political beliefs — but rather bigotry that threatens the well-being and safety of students on Grounds. The Cavalier Daily’s Editorial Board does not condone platforming an individual that not only denies the existence of our diverse community, but participates in the violent rhetoric that perpetuates harm against these individuals. To our administration — we implore you to do better. Protect your students.

Is Mike Pence coming to speak or is he coming to kill?! This is now an old trick in the left’s playbook. Silence anyone who disagrees with you by claiming they are a threat to your life and safety. The editorial board is asking for a campus wide safe space but it’s doing it in a fairly sly way.

The editorial never explicitly says Pence should be deplatformed. Instead it says the board does not “condone platforming” him and after claiming multiple times that his presence will constitute a threat to lives and safety, the editorial concludes by telling UVA to “protect your students.” How should they be protected? Obviously by not giving Pence a platform. That’s the whole thrust of the piece but again, they avoid actually calling for the speech to be canceled.

In any case, Emma Camp, the author of the aforementioned NY Times piece about free speech at UVA tweeted this thread poking holes in the editorial:

*sigh*
There is no illiberalism problem at UVA. Yep. Nothing to see here. https://t.co/iwGOnMEEyT

— Emma Camp✒️ (@emmma_camp_) March 22, 2022

I get it, Pence upsets people (and I encourage them to protest outside the event.) But in no way will this event kill anyone. This will not endanger anyone's physical safety. To use such language makes it difficult to clearly talk about actual persecution.

— Emma Camp✒️ (@emmma_camp_) March 22, 2022

The wrongness of calling for a speaker cancelation is also evident here, but I don't have a particularly interesting take on that. It's a bad idea. UVA knows it's a bad idea. They will ignore the call to censor.

— Emma Camp✒️ (@emmma_camp_) March 22, 2022

Plenty of other folks have been pointing out how absurd the editorial is. A former undergrad points out that Iranian President Khatami spoke there when he was a student.

CavDaily says @Mike_Pence speech would “threaten the lives” of students. When I was an undergrad at @UVA former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami spoke on grounds. Iran is/was a US designated state sponsor of terrorism (like, literally killing people) https://t.co/9UVoz5s99J

— Mike Wakefield (@MikeRWakefield) March 23, 2022

And assortment of reactions:

Here's what happens when an epistemic institution abandons the telos of truth. Editorial board at @UVA paper thinks universities should not host people who do not share the university's values.

Great argument for the Chicago principles: https://t.co/diBxXas5Jl

— Jonathan Haidt (@JonHaidt) March 23, 2022

And here I thought the intellectual quality of the UVa student body had improved since I was there. Apparently not. https://t.co/9npsRJtagp

— Brit Hume (@brithume) March 22, 2022

UVA editorial argues VP Mike Pence shouldn’t be a allowed to speak on campus. A newspaper and journalists should set a very high bar for restricting speech,
especially at public institutions.
If you’re anti-free speech, you’re not pro-journalism.https://t.co/iBEtd6oAO3

— Greg Jaffe (@GregJaffe) March 23, 2022

Mike Pence has spoken at dozens of colleges. There is zero evidence of any student ever being endangered as a result. But UVA's student newspaper editorializes that he must be kept off campus because "speech that threatens the lives of those on Grounds is unjustifiable."

— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) March 22, 2022

And MKHam agreed with that.

It does not threaten any lives. https://t.co/BrbatU2HBd

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 22, 2022

You have people from the left, right and center condemning this but the defenders of this kind of approach mostly seem to have gone silent. I have a theory as to why:

As a UVA Alum this is embarrassing:

EDITORIAL: Dangerous rhetoric is not entitled to a platform https://t.co/lohAH6NOYn

— Mark Lindsay (@MarkELindsay) March 23, 2022