Ben Shapiro will be making his first on-campus visit since the COVID-19 shutdowns began last March to the University of Central Florida on Oct. 25.
Young America’s Foundation — a conservative youth organization that introduces students and student activists to conservative ideas through conservative conferences, speakers, and campus lectures — announced on their website that Shapiro will be speaking at UCF through YAF’s Fred and Lynda Allen lecture series this fall.
YAF spokeswoman Kara Zupkus said she believes with Shapiro returning to campuses to speak with students, it will rejuvenate thousands of conservative students’ enthusiasm to stand up for conservative viewpoints.
“As students across the country are being bombarded with anti-American ideas like Critical Race Theory, YAF is here to demand that conservative ideas have a place on our nation’s campuses,” Zupkus said. “This first stop on Ben Shapiro’s highly anticipated campus lecture tour will be sure to reignite thousands of passionate conservative students who were forced off their campuses last year by overzealous university bureaucrats.”
Shapiro was originally set to speak at UCF last March through YAF’s lecture series before being forced to postpone the engagement due to Covid-19 shutdowns.
Shapiro’s first scheduled appearance was met with some disapproval from some students within SG, citing they would not want to allow student funding to cover half the cost of the political commentator’s appearance fee due to him, “not representing the core ideals of the University.”
The UCF Student Government Senate ultimately voted to allocate $17,875 of student funds to bring Shapiro to UCF’s main campus in February 2020.
By the second week of March 2020, the College Republicans at UCF said the political commentator will no longer be coming to campus due to the pandemic.
“Out of an abundance of caution for everyone involved in our upcoming Ben Shapiro Lecture, we have decided to postpone the event,” the College Republicans at UCF said in March 2020. “If you have received a ticket for our event, please hold on to it. All tickets will remain valid …”
Shapiro has worked exclusively with Young America’s Foundation for more than 55 campus addresses since 2013, reaching audiences of more than 200,000,000 online during that time.
Additional details regarding attending this lecture will be made available soon via YAF.org/events and @YAF on Twitter.
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Photo Credit: Shapiro photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore.
