Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary, will visit Syracuse University in March.

The free event is scheduled for March 26 from 7-8 p.m., Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization, announced through its website. Rody Conway, president of SU’s College Republicans, confirmed the details of the event in a text message to The Daily Orange on Wednesday.

More details about the event will be available as the event approaches, according to YAF’s website.

The Student Association’s Finance Board approved the College Republicans’ $23,000 request to invite Spicer for a speaking event on campus last November. The assembly voted to approve the funding as part of the Finance Board’s spring semester allocations.

Since resigning as White House press secretary in July 2017, Spicer has rebranded himself as a public speaker through the lecture agency Worldwide Speakers Group. He is also a former contestant of “Dancing with the Stars.”

Conway said in November that he wants Spicer’s speaking event to be “open to everyone.”

Spicer has spoken at college campuses across the country, including the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University and Northeastern Illinois University, where he faced protests from students and faculty. He has focused on his political career and his time as press secretary in those speeches.

Conway has said inviting well-known speakers to SU is part of the College Republicans’ plan for future growth. He has also raised the possibility of inviting Ben Shapiro, founder of conservative news and opinion website The Daily Wire, to SU in the future.

Student Association requires all organizations to use approved funds in the semester they were allocated for. If the College Republicans did not host Spicer or a similar speaker in spring 2020, the funds would be returned to SA as rollover funds.

The Finance Board also declined a $6,000 request from the College Republicans to invite conservative political commentator Michael Knowles to campus. Stacy Omosa, chair of the Finance Board, said the board declined that request so the College Republicans could focus on the Spicer event.

Knowles has faced controversy during prior speeches at college campuses, including one instance in which a University of Missouri-Kansas City student assaulted him during a speech some students said was anti-transgender. He also received backlash for calling climate activist Greta Thunberg a “mentally ill Swedish child.”

The College Republicans appealed the budget request for Knowles. The Finance Board denied that appeal.

SU’s College Democrats chapter did not request any funding from the Finance Board for the spring semester.

Published on January 22, 2020 at 11:17 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu