Old Main at Penn State University
WILLIAMSPORT – A free-speech group that showcases controversial conservative figures on college campuses is suing Penn State University over the handling of an October event, complaining pro-Palestine groups and football fans are treated better.
Uncensored America filed a lawsuit Oct. 29 in Williamsport federal court against the school, which allegedly violated its constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection when it tried to move a planned debate and then refused to pay for services associated with it, like police presence.
UA was treated differently than Students for Justice in Palestine, which held a rally on Oct. 7, and ESPN, which was given the Old Main Lawn for College GameDay on Sept. 27, the suit says.
It’s not the first scuffle between UA and Penn State, as a 2022 event was cancelled after protestors used pepper spray and spit on one of UA’s speakers.
“These actions imposed severe burdens: financial (denied funding), logistical (indoor relocation reducing visibility), and expressive (chilling future events), while favoring events aligned with progressive viewpoints,” the suit says.
In August, UA asked Penn State for funding for an outdoor debate table with Tim Pool, Alex Stein and Myron Gaines to take place in October at Old Main Patio but was told there was not enough police available because of a Homecoming parade, the suit says.
Penn State ordered UA to host the event indoors, possibly at the school’s Business Building. As the issue dragged on, Penn State allowed the SJP-Palestine and GameDay events at prominent outdoor areas on campus.
“This Palestine event is considered as controversial as UA’s,” the suit says. “Yet again, Penn State allowed this event to be outside without prior security concerns impeding its ability to move forward.”
UA decided to host a spontaneous debate table with Gaines on Oct. 14 at the Old Main Patio, where six Penn State officers monitored. This, and the fact no violence occurred, showed Penn State’s funding and safety concerns were unvalidated, UA says.
A week later, Penn State denied the original funding request because the event “already occurred,” the suit says.
UA founder Sean Semanko filed the lawsuit himself. Three years earlier, Stein and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes were scheduled for a lecture hosted by UA but Antifa protestors gathered, with one spitting on Stein and others deploying pepper spray.
Penn State cancelled the event an as an “unlawful disturbance,” UA says. It adds that Penn State had allowed Joan Donovan – a researcher on media manipulation – to label McInnes a Nazi at a counter-lecture held days before the UA event.
