After ISU canceled his Speaker Series event, citing safety, Rich Lowry speaks out in National Review article

By Chris Essex, Annie Johnston, Natalie Seals
Sep 20, 2024
Sep 20, 2024 Updated Nov 22, 2024
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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The man whose upcoming Speaker Series appearance at Indiana State University was canceled is now speaking out.

Rich Lowry is the editor-in-chief of the conservative publication the National Review. He was scheduled to speak at ISU on September 30.

Do you agree with Indiana State University's decision to cancel Rich Lowry's Speaker Series event?

Earlier this week, Indiana State University canceled his appearance, saying, "...in light of recent developments and following the advice of our public safety officials regarding campus and community safety concerns..."

This is after a video was shared online of Lowry during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show in which some people thought Lowry was in the process of saying a racial slur when talking about Haitian migrants. Others thought he simply misspoke.

In a post on X, Lowry denied the allegation that he used the slur.

Lowry took to the National Review on Thursday, commenting on ISU's decision. In the article, he said,

Pull Quote

"I was scheduled to speak at Indiana State University in a couple of weeks, but the university has scrapped my appearance “in light of recent developments and following the advice of our public safety officials regarding campus and community safety concerns.”

This is a classic pretext, often used by university officials to dispense with speakers they find inconvenient. They’d really love to have them, don’t you know, but it will take as much security as is required for Donald Trump to play a round of golf, so, sadly, it just isn’t possible.

Like all cancelers, the university wants you to believe that this is just an exception to its scrupulous fair-mindedness: “It is important to stress that this cancellation is not intended to limit our neutrality on different political viewpoints.”

Uh-huh. Taking the side of a woke online fringe and giving it what it wants on the basis of an almost certainly nonexistent security threat doesn’t speak to political neutrality.

And if there is a real security threat, what does that say about Indiana State University? If the young people under its care and tutelage are liable to storm a lecture hall if I show up, that is an indictment of them, not me."

Rich Lowry - The National Review

You can read the full article here.

News 10 has been attempting to get more clarification from the university about what led to the decision and if there were specific safety concerns since Wednesday.

We asked if there "were any specific threats or protests the university was aware of? Specifically, what are the safety concerns?" So far, we haven't received a response to that specific question.

We also reached out Friday after seeing the article in Lowry's publication.

In multiple emails, a university spokesperson said no one will be available until next week.

On Friday, former Vice President and Indiana Governor Mike Pence weighed in on the decision.

Pence shared WTHI-TV's article in a post on X and called for ISU to reverse its decision. He said Lowry is a "decent man who is being smeared."

Come on @indianastate. You’re better than this. @RichLowry is a good and decent man who is being smeared and canceled for something he verifiably never said. Reinstate his invitation. Do it now. @GovHolcomb @NRO https://t.co/z4XWKwzRlN
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) September 20, 2024