UPDATED: April 9, 2020 at 1:05 p.m.

Ben Shapiro, a conservative political commentator, may visit Syracuse University in early October. 

The Student Association’s Finance Board approved the College Republicans’ $40,000 request to invite Shapiro on Monday, said Dustin Hall, College Republicans treasurer. It is too early to set an official date for the event, he said. 

Shapiro currently serves as editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, a conservative news and opinion website he founded in 2015. He has gone viral on social media several times in recent years for making controversial comments.

In 2015, a video went viral showing Shapiro misgendering Zoey Tur, a transgender reporter, by calling her “sir” while appearing on a talk show together. He went viral again in June 2019 after suggesting that people working more than one job to make ends meet are facing “a you problem.” Shapiro later clarified that people “cannot dictate that a job pay you what you wish it paid you.”

The College Republicans worked alongside the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization, to get the event approved, Hall said. Shapiro speaks exclusively through YAF, Hall said.

“Shapiro is the number one conservative speaker,” Hall said. “Because of this, he is very selective about where he has events and the amount.” 

The College Republicans worked with YAF earlier this year in an attempt to bring former press secretary Sean Spicer to campus. Though the funding was approved, Spicer’s planned March visit was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

SA’s Finance Board said Tuesday in a campus-wide email that its Finance Codes do not allow the board to consider a speaker’s ethics or morality into its decisions. The Finance Board funds budgets that adhere to the Finance Codes and are prepared correctly, they said. 

“The College Republicans were funded for a speaker,” the statement reads. “That speaker was a choice of that organization, not the Student Association Finance Board.”

After funding approval, student organizations work with a student activities coordinator and the Department of Public Safety to vet guests and ensure the safety and security of the SU community, the Finance Board said.

Rody Conway, chairman of the College Republicans, has said inviting well-known speakers to SU is part of the group’s plan for future growth.

Shapiro’s visits to college campuses have often resulted in protest. Hundreds of protesters swarmed University of California, Berkeley in 2017 as Shaprio spoke, and police shut down large swaths of the campus for security purposes. Students at Boston University protested Shapiro’s November 2019 visit. 

In fall 2017, the Student Association denied College Republican’s request to bring Shapiro to campus, telling the group they needed to rent out space before requesting funds. 

Shapiro hosts The Ben Shapiro Show, a daily political podcast and live radio show. He has also written ten books, focusing on issues of free speech, political correctness and bias in American higher education and media.

— This post was updated with additional reporting.

Published on April 6, 2020 at 11:53 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3