Over one hundred Yale Law School students protested a bipartisan free speech panel Thursday hosted by The Federalist Society at the Ivy League university, and reportedly were so rowdy that the speakers received a police escort.
The panel featured Monica Miller from the progressive American Humanist Association and Kristen Waggoner of the conservative non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), according to the Washington Free Beacon. The intention of the panel was to “illustrate that a liberal atheist and a conservative Christian could find common ground on free speech issues,” a member of the Federalist Society told the outlet.
During the discussion, Miller and Waggoner discussed the recent Supreme Court case Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, which dealt specifically with freedom of religion and free speech on college campuses, according to the outlet.
When Yale Law School Professor Kate Stith reminded the students disrupting the event of the university’s free speech policy, the approximately 120 picketing students objected, prompting the professor to tell the students to “grow up.” The incident was caught on a video obtained by the Free Beacon. (RELATED: Ivy League Students Tear Down Shakespeare Portrait In Name Of Diversity)
BEASTMODE: Yale Law professor Kate Stith tells protesting students to “grow up”
Full story from @aaronsibarium: https://t.co/JsTkQxynzL pic.twitter.com/81wGuKXk1C
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) March 16, 2022
The gay rights movement would never have achieved anything had it not been for the principle of free expression. Shameful, but not surprising, to see this thuggish behavior at Yale. Grow up, indeed. https://t.co/vy8QnWExut
— James Kirchick (@jkirchick) March 16, 2022
Stith told the students that she was “going to have to ask you to leave, or help you leave.” The protesters promptly migrated out of the building, but corralled and continued to protest outside loudly, according to the report. The chants were so loud that other classrooms at the university heard the crowd as well. (RELATED: Princeton Student Group Stands Up To Campus Protesters)
Moreover, the protesters blocked key exits of the building. “It was disturbing to witness law students whipped into a mindless frenzy,” Waggoner told to the Free Beacon. “I did not feel it was safe to get out of the room without security.”
Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken called the police and the speakers were eventually escorted safely out, but the university would not comment on which panelist had requested the additional security. The Federalist Society told the Free Beacon that none of their members called the police at any point.