Notes: "Free Speech" does not mean "paid speech," nor does it mean "platforming fascists and promoting hateful, meritless disinformation with thousands of student-fee dollars."  

Furthermore, denying McInnes permission to be paid and platformed at Penn State is not in any way a violation of "free speech"; this is not a speech issue, it is a safety issue on numerous levels. McInnes must be denied because McInnes poses the threat of neofascist violence to our community. Penn State correctly recognized this threat in 2017, when the Penn State Admin denied far-right leader Richard Spencer permission to speak at Penn State in 2017 citing safety concerns and a commitment to an equity. This precedent still holds and reveals this is not a speech issue. Admin has done it before, they should do it now with Gavin McInnes. (https://tinyurl.com/pennstatespencer)

A far right organization in State College, PA, called "Uncensored America," has invited Gavin McInnes, the fascist organizer and founder of the Proud Boys, which Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an "extremist hate-group", to come get paid and platformed with student fee dollars on October 24th (tinyurl.com/proudboyshate). Despite lying about distancing himself from the Proud Boys in the wake of a legal crackdown on the organization, McInnes is still a recognized and active leader in the Proud Boys organization he founded (tinyurl.com/stillproudboy). Uncensored America manipulates the rhetoric of "free speech" and "ideas" in order to provide ideological cover for funneling money and resources away from Penn State students and into the hands of far-right extremist individuals and groups. "Free Speech" does not mean "enabling Gavin McInnes to develop and reinforce right-wing extremist networks while padding his wallet and prestige." Penn Staters and their friends oppose fascism, Gavin McInnes, and the manipulative rhetoric of Uncensored America and we do not welcome any of these in the midst of our campus environment—we demand that our university administration stand with us.

The University Administration of Penn State is fully empowered to deny Uncensored America permission to host this event. The fact this was UPAC (University Park Allocation Committee) funded does not mean the Administration can not stop this event—they absolutely can. We, the students and community of State College, as well as people of conscience from around the country, make the following demands of the Penn State administration:

1. We demand that the Penn State administration—especially Vice President of Student Affairs Damon Sims, Provost Justin Schwartz, and President Neeli Bendapudi—deny Uncensored America permission to sponsor and platform  Gavin McInnes with a speaking engagement on the week of Oct. 24th, 2022.
   
   
2. We demand that the Penn State administration go to court if it has to do so in order to deny Uncensored America permission for this event. We do not accept empty lawyer-speak claiming that Penn State, which has a special legal status, has to pay and platform fascists for "state funding"—denying permission to pay and platform someone does not violate their 1st amendment rights.
   
   
3. We demand that substantial policy changes be made to the UPAC (the University Park Allocations Committee) handbook or other relevant university policies in order to prevent fascist, white supremacist organizers like McInnes from coming to our campus to be paid and platformed.
   
   
4. We demand that the money that would have been spent on Uncensored America's Gavin McInnes event  to be given to student groups who can educate students on how to change university policy to stop the spread of far-right extremism on campus.

From the moment that Gavin McInnes founded the group, the  Proud Boys has been a fascist, self-proclaimed "western chauvinist," hate-group dedicated to maintaining and advancing  white supremacy under the guise of "white, western values."  This group would go on to commit numerous hate crimes and be instrumental in the January 6th riots at the U.S. Capitol (tinyurl.com/ HuffPostMcInnes)

Paying and platforming Gavin McInnes while allowing him to build networks and political prestige goes against everything for which we Penn Staters stand, including the core values of our university. Paying and platforming fascist, white supremacist, misogynistic organizers like McInnes to our campus actively undermines what many expert professor's teach in their classes. Paying and platforming racist, homophobic, transphobic political agents within our academic community disrupts our university operations without adding anything of merit to our campus.

Let us Penn Staters and friends join together and make the Penn State community a world leader in opposing fascism, chauvinism, and white supremacy in deeds and not only in words.

For more information on the fascist, white supremacist organizer, Gavin McInnes, and the hate group he founded, the "Proud Boys,"  please visit: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys

Update: In the interest of upholding Penn State values, providing short-term and long-term support for marginalized students,  Students have called for a protest titled "Stand Up, Fight Back" to be held on Monday to deny funding and a platform for McInnes, who has a history of committing and provoking violence. This protest does more than  saying empty words and hosting distracting, empty, parallel "educational" events about fascism while Penn State student-fee money and a platform is still materially supporting neofascist violence in our community, The Penn State's performative event "Together We Are" was scheduled after this protest was announced and this petition circulated. "Together We Are" is being used Admin and their official channel's to sap energy away from student-led organizing and make it appear that they are not responsible for inviting danger into our community. Talk is cheap and lies are easy to make when you want to get paid from both sides. Stopping McInnes and the movement is the only way for Penn Staters to do our part in stopping the spread and legitimation of neofascist movements and violence in our community.