Empowerment: Intolerant Marquette Feminists Demand Ben Shapiro Be Shut Down

Empowerment is the Marquette feminist group that believed it had the right to vandalize an anti-abortion display on campus. Their Facebook page, and their page on Collegelink, show them to be the kind of stereotypical shrill leftists that have given feminism a (justified) bad name.

So it is not surprising that they want to ban conservative speaker Ben Shapiro, who is coming to speak on campus this coming Wednesday. A leftist staffer from Marquette’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies has already been conspiring (under the guidance of a “director of diversity”) to have leftist students get tickets to the event in order to deny them to students who might want to hear Shapiro, and then not show up for the event, leaving empty seats.

Thus is is not surprising to find Empowerment circulating a letter demanding that President Lovell ban Shapiro from campus. The letter reads as follows:

President Lovell:

As we are sure you are aware, Ben Shapiro is scheduled to speak on campus on February 8, 2017. Shapiro is a well-known political commentator who has built a career around perpetuating racism and xenophobia and actively fighting against human dignity, a core principle of Marquette University. Not only does the presence of Shapiro at our university threaten the values we strive to uphold, but it also undermines the theme of this year’s Mission Week, “Racial Justice: Black, White and the Call of the Church” as well as Black History Month, both of which are interrupted by Shapiro’s talk.

While we recognize and respect the variety of political opinions at Marquette, we also recognize that this is not a political issue: it is an issue of basic human rights and dignity. The Marquette University Mission Statement states, “Precisely because Catholicism at its best seeks to be inclusive, we are open to all who share our mission and seek the truth about God and the world,” and continues to say, “We welcome and benefit enormously from the diversity of seekers within our ranks, even as we freely choose and celebrate our own Catholic identity.” The allowance of Shapiro and his hateful rhetoric on campus tells us, Marquette students of all races, genders, ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds, that we are not important and that our differences make us undeserving of respect and care.

Ben Shapiro believes Muslim people should not be able to immigrate or seek asylum in the United States. How will you explain to Muslim students that their religion does not disqualify them from deserving a safe and secure place to live?

Ben Shapiro believes racism is no longer an issue for People of Color. How will you explain to Students of Color that the discrimination and microaggressions they experience daily is not an illusion?

Ben Shapiro believes that the plague of sexual assault is a political scam. How will you explain to Survivors on campus that their experiences are not a sign of a personal flaw but of a larger systemic issue?

Ben Shapiro believes that the killings of many Black People by police are justified because they are criminals. How will you explain to Black students that walking or sitting in your car does not make you deserving of being shot seventeen times?

Ben Shapiro questions the truth that every person is deserving of dignity and respect. How will you maintain the values of Marquette University while hateful rhetoric against certain students is being perpetuated at University-sanctioned events?

The current social landscape in the United States calls each of us to a renewed sense of duty to work for the common human dignity of all individuals despite the fear and hatemongering of those who would wish to continue a cycle of oppression. We hope you, as President of Marquette University, will use your position to stand up for those who are marginalized. It is not enough to claim to be the difference.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,

_______________________

Members of Marquette Empowerment Executive Board composed these words with the hope that you would take action to voice your views and demand our university take responsibility. Feel free to sign your name and deliver this message to our administrators. We also hope our words empower you to discover your own and share your story and your voice, without fear.

In solidarity and love.

One leader of a student organization which has no political agenda, but was nonetheless urged to sign on to the statement, responded with a rather testy e-mail explaining that he or she had no intention of signing on. Indeed, the leader promised legal action if an anti-Shapiro protest disrupted their own meeting, held nearby.  The response, from an officer of Empowerment, was as follows:

SHOW ME YOU HAVE 0.00004% OF THE RESPECT, PASSION, CONCERN, AND CARE FOR THE REAL LIVES OF MY BLACK, UNDOCUMENTED, MUSLIM, TRANS, AND NONBINARY FAMILY WHO FACE THE ALL TOO REAL VIOLENCE AND ACTION BEHIND THE WORDS AND IDEOLOGIES OF BEN SHAPIRO AS YOU DO FOR [redacted], AND THEN WE’LL TALK, HOW BOW DAH?

REALITY/HUMANITY CHECK:
A WORLD WHERE THE COMFORT OF THE PRIVILEGED IS VALUED MORE THAN THE LIVES OF THE OPPRESSED SHOULD ALREADY FEEL LIKE A CRISIS! IF IT DOESN’T, YOU ARE GROSSLY OUT OF TOUCH AND YOUR SILENCE ON THE MATTER IS VIOLENT.

P.S. I’ve never received a more presumptuous and patronizing email. I acknowledge your concern for [redacted] at your meeting if students are to gather in protest of this event, but you have misdirected that concern. Before you try to delegitimize and silence my voice because of my use of CAPS, or because of my tone, or language, remember that ANGER has always had a place in this conversation, whether overt or under the thin guise of passive aggression and legal threat. It has a place during a “Racial Justice” themed Mission Week.

Thus, when informed that the leader of a non-political group did not want to sign a political statement, the officer of Empowerment turned abusive.

Empowerment, and the faculty who mentor and nurture them in their intolerance, are part of the Axis of Grievance at Marquette. With no respect for any opinions that differ from their own, they feel free to shut up people with whom they disagree.

Unfortunately, they are not the only intolerant people at Marquette. A small army of staff with “diversity” or “inclusion” or “multicultural” in their titles feels the same way.