Walsh Speaks Without Incident At W&L Monday

On Monday night, Matt Walsh spoke to a full house at Washington and Lee’s University Chapel – without the controversy that had preceded his scheduled appearance last March.

Walsh had rescheduled that talk due to security concerns unrelated to the university.

Walsh, a podcaster and contributor to The Daily Wire, was invited to speak by the college Republicans and the Spectator, W&L’s conservative magazine.

At the time it was first announced during the last school year, a petition circulated among students and faculty at both the undergraduate and law schools, requesting the event be cancelled.

The petition, which gathered over 600 signatures, read, in part: “Allowing Matt Walsh to headline an event on our campus advocating for unapologetically transphobic views sends a message to current and prospective students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community that transphobia is not just accepted on our campus, but it is welcomed.”

Walsh has spoken openly against transgender and LGBTQ movements, including at last night’s event, during which he blamed such movements for higher rates of suicide among transgender people.

Just prior to his planned visit last March, Washington and Lee University’s president, Will Dudley, said in a statement that groups were free to bring speakers to campus, while clarifying that speaking on campus does not mean the university endorses any speaker.

At the rescheduled event, there was neither petition nor protests, though W&L public safety officers were joined by Lexington police officers and several state troopers in providing security at the event.

In response to a student question Monday night, Walsh said that he was unaware of the petition to stop him from speaking, but criticized it as an attack on free speech.

“Yes, that’s an example of a university not being open to dialogue, of being hostile to free speech, all of that is anathema to what education should be,” he said.

“I think there should be an open dialogue on a college campus, but before that, there should be truth on a college campus.”