Conservative commentator blasts TCU officials over ‘leftist myths’

A well-known conservative commentator blasted TCU officials Wednesday night over the university’s recent decision to appoint a high-ranking diversity official — and he did it in a packed auditorium of students on TCU’s campus.

Ben Shapiro, the editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com, was speaking as a guest of the university’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter, according to campus news website TCU 360.

“Yes, I mean you Diona Willis, Shanel Alexander and Emily Laff,” he told the crowd the Brown Lupton University Union. “Those are the three TCU students who have organized these silent protests during the National Anthem at football games. Shame on the administration, weaklings as like the chancellor, the vice chancellor, and the associate chancellor of student affairs and all the other administrators who gave credit for this (expletive).”

Shapiro, who also has a large following on Twitter, was referring to the demands list that Willis, Alexander and Laff sent campus administrators last month, seeking more campus diversity and inclusiveness.

The demands included increasing faculty diversity, lowering campus flags to half-staff when African-Americans are killed by police, and adding sensitivity training “that focuses not only on racial and anti-Semitic intolerance but also micro-aggressions.”

TCU officials agreed to add a “Cabinet-level” position to lead diversity efforts and to provide more training so that students “may better partner with us to effect cultural change on campus.”

On Wednesday night, Shapiro described the concepts of diversity, white privilege, and micro-aggressions as “leftist myths,” according to the TCU 360 story.

Alexander, who attended Wednesday night’s meeting, said about 80 percent of the room gave Shapiro a standing ovation when he arrived. And when he called out TCU administrators and the protesting students, “there was a huge round of applause,” Alexander said.

“The way he attacked me and my peers, and the administration, it was hard for me to grasp the concept of why he was allowed to speak on campus,” Alexander said.

The Young Americans for Freedom have hosted conservative speakers before, including Col. Allen West this spring.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 8:47 PM with the headline "Conservative commentator blasts TCU officials over ‘leftist myths’."