Communist Angela Davis Gets Warm Welcome from Marquette Officials

Yes, she is speaking tonight, and at very large venue (the Al McGuire Center) which Marquette would not let Young Americans for Freedom use for the (heavily oversubscribed) Ben Shapiro speech.

But the crowd does not look especially large:

Reminder- @MarquetteU refused to let @benshapiro speak in the AL where murder conspirator & communist Angela Davis speaks tonight @yaf pic.twitter.com/yZQdiblnJh

— Ethan Hollenberger (@EHollenberger) March 30, 2017

Ethan Hollenberger, at the event and tweeting about it notes that President Lovell called Davis an “awesome example.” This about a woman who is a self proclaimed Communist, and who bought guns for her fellow black militants in a plot that led to the killing of several innocent people.

When Ben Shapiro was at Marquette, the university required the reading of a disclaimer that noted that Shapiro’s views were not necessarily the views of Marquette University.

No such disclaimer was read at the Davis event.

Davis discussed a mural of FBI most wanted terrorist Assata Shakur, which decorated the wall of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center at Marquette, until we reported it, and an embarrassed Marquette administration had it painted over.

Davis called the mural “whitewashed” and called Shakur “a comrade and a friend.”

According to the Washington Examiner:

Davis is most renowned for her career of radical leftist activism, involving leadership stints in both the Black Panther Party and Communist Party. Today, she continues to proclaim that “capitalism is the most dangerous kind of future we can imagine” telling the Los Angeles Times recently, “as long as we inhabit a capitalist democracy, a future of racial equality, gender equality, economic equality will elude us.”

Davis is notorious for landing on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in 1970 for fleeing police after she was charged with purchasing the murder weapon used in a courtroom shootout in 1970.

At the Women’s March in January, Davis called on activists to become “more militant.”

“Those who still defend the supremacy of white male hetero-patriarchy,” she said, “had better watch out.”

Her views on abortion and marriage openly contradict Catholic teachings. Nevertheless, Marquette is touting Davis as a “living witness to history” and featuring her remarks as a “distinguished lecture.” Davis’ speaking fee has previously been listed between $10,000 and $20,000.

Note the double standard: when Ben Shapiro, a rather mainstream conservative spoke on campus, Marquette officials threatened to charge the Young Americans for Freedom (who sponsored the event) for security.

They backed off that, but then staffer Chrissy Nelson tried to undermine the event by advising leftists to sign up for a ticket and not show up, depriving an interested student of a seat. She did so at the suggestion of an unnamed “director of diversity.”

A disclaimer, saying that Marquette did not endorse Shapiro’s views, was required to be read.

Not only did no Marquette official laud Shapiro, Provost Dan Myers took to Marquette Wire to argue against Shapiro.

While minor contributions to Shapiro’s speaker’s fee were made by Student Government and the Residence Hall Council, apparently all of Davis’ fee was paid by Marquette. Out of tuition money.

So what we have here is Marquette officially lauding and supporting a Communist who was party to a murder plot.

It would be different if Marquette sponsored a diverse group of speakers, including some extremists from both left and right. But Marquette is officially on the hard left.