After recent controversy surrounding Milo Yiannopoulos’ talk at CU, Turning Point USA, a nationwide right-leaning non-profit organization with a branch at the university, facilitated a debate of six panelists on Feb. 8 to discuss Yiannopoulos’ controversial topics.
“We want more discussions,” said Nick Reinhardt, campus coordinator of Turning Point. He mentioned bringing in less controversial speakers — ones that will hopefully appeal to everyone at CU. “We definitely want to get more people of differing views in the audience.”
The panel of Republicans and Democrats discussed micro-aggressions, peaceful protests and safe spaces.
“The bigger problem is why people are threatened that there’s certain rooms designated for a specific group,” said Rachel Willihnganz, a campus activist.
Panelists encouraged back and forth discussion with each other throughout the mediated conversation. However, discussion turned heated during the Q&A portion of the debate.
While the speakers varied in ideologies, audience members seemed to demonstrate more agreement with the Republican panelists.
As a left-leaning panelist discussed the acceptability of violence against those with ideologies similar to Nazism, audience members immediately jumped in. Many stated that comparing conservatives to Nazis is a hyperbole that must be stopped.
Once the event closed, audience members thanked the panelists of opposing views for an engaging debate, closing on high note.
“Separating ourselves is not truly American,” said Alex Vela, vice president of CU’s College Republicans.
Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Sydney Worth at sydney.worth@colorado.edu.
