The New York University School of Law has canceled a Federalist Society event featuring conservative legal scholar Ilya Shapiro, citing security concerns and the potential for protests tied to the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
The event, scheduled for Oct. 7, was to feature Shapiro — a prominent critic of campus anti-Israel activism and author of “Lawless: The Miseducation of American Elites” — discussing illiberal trends in higher education. But administrators warned that demonstrations could disrupt the talk and asked student organizers to reschedule.
“For security reasons, and because we anticipate an increased likelihood of demonstrations and protests connected to the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, incidents in Gaza, would it be possible to host Mr. Shapiro on another date?” wrote Penelope Fernandes, the law school’s director of institutional programming, in a Sept. 10 email, The Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday.
When the Federalist Society insisted on holding the event as planned, administrators informed them the talk could not take place that week.
Associate Dean Megan McDermott cited “great demands on resources and personnel,” while spokesperson Michael Orey maintained the event was not canceled but “rescheduled.” However, it now appears as “canceled” on NYU’s internal calendar, according to the report.
The decision drew accusations of a “heckler’s veto” and hypocrisy, according to the Free Beacon. Despite claiming a lack of capacity, the law school is hosting several other events — including a seven-hour symposium — that same week.
“There could not be a more on-the-nose example of weak university officials in the face of a heckler’s veto than this farce,” Shapiro told the Free Beacon.
“I’d be happy to give NYU’s dean a copy of my book, so he can ‘do the work’ of learning how to be an effective and principled leader.”
The Federalist Society now plans to host Shapiro, along with two federal judges and former ACLU president Nadine Strossen, at an off-campus forum on free speech and antisemitism on Oct. 7.
The controversy comes as NYU faces heightened scrutiny over its handling of antisemitism complaints. The university has been targeted by a White House task force and previously settled lawsuits alleging failures to address anti-Israel harassment.
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