“We need this generation to be the generation of freedom,” he said, “starting here at U-Va.” The event had sparked a national debate about the “culture of annulment” and whether campuses could not stand conservative views. But Pence was greeted by standing ovations in the room on Tuesday, laughter at his jokes and repeated applause during his speech. The crowd laughed when Pence said he had heard there was a “minor controversy” before his visit. An article in a student newspaper was quoted by Pence was not worth a platform in U-Va., and this hate speech was “violent”, provoking reactions. Pence told the crowd: “The antidote to the ‘annulment of civilization’ is freedom. “The antidote to ‘wake up America’ is freedom.” He praised the Trump administration, denounced President Biden’s record, and said that “awakening” was embarrassing in public schools and universities. He said a young man had asked him before the event how to handle an environment in which conservative students felt they had to censor themselves on campus. Pence said he told him, “Talk and smile.” Twelve protesters remained outside the building where Pence spoke, including a woman wearing a rainbow flag as a cape as she handed out leaflets describing the anti-gay legislation Pence said she supported. At U-Va., A Mike Pence event rekindles a debate on free speech Shortly before the event, as people lined up to enter the speech, there were only a few protesters. Kristen Maggard, fourth year A student from Wise, Va., said, “Pence is here to talk about freedom and freedom of speech, but I do not think he is defending freedom. “It is actively pushing against marginalized communities with the legislation it has passed.” The former vice president was at U-Va. as part of a national tour of college campuses funded by the Young America’s Foundation. (At U-Va., The event was also funded by Jefferson Council, a group of alumni.) His speeches at other schools sparked some protests. But at U-Va., The event billed as “How to Save America from the Awakening Left,” was particularly crowded. An article in a campus newspaper, Cavalier Daily, was cited in 2017, when white advocates paraded on campus with torches. The article criticized Pence’s statements and policies on gays and transgender people, immigrants and others. And they wrote, “Speech that threatens the lives of those on the ground is unjustified.” The piece provoked reactions, both nationally and on campus, at a time when restrictions on freedom of speech, self-censorship and a “culture of annulment” were already controversial. The Jefferson Independent, a student conservative publication in the university, reacted with its own syntax denouncing attempts to censor speech and enforce compliance. On Monday, twelve faculty members wrote a letter to the Cavalier Daily in support of the newspaper’s headline. They also referred to the gathering of white nationalists in Charlottesville in 2017. “The whitewashed white defenders who invaded Lawn were supporters of the Trump-Pence government,” the professors wrote. A gathering of white nationalists at the University of Virginia was tragic Leaders with Young Americans for Freedom at the University of Virginia said the organization they wanted to host Pence because they saw the need for greater intellectual diversity on campus. Aidan Thies, a graduate student in linguistics wearing a YAF shirt while in line for the event, said: “U-Va. it is not necessarily friendly to right-wing people. But I think that’s good [the speech is] continues despite the fact that the editorial board of Cavalier Daily said that Pence is not entitled to a platform here. “I thought it was quite absurd,” he said. The afternoon before the event, the sunny sky and warm temperatures filled the school lawn with students playing frisbee and working on laptops in folding chairs. Ethan Zelenke, a sophomore from Ashburn, Va., Said he was slightly right-wing and wanted to watch the speech. “When there is a vice president here at the university, I thought he was a good person to see and I want to be part of a national discourse,” he said. “You hear a lot from the left, you hear a lot from the right, and I just wanted to see for myself – to demystify it.” Natalie Gonzalez, whose parents are from El Salvador, identified herself as colored and said she would not attend the speech. Gonzalez said the Trump administration has fueled racism. “I’m a little scared,” said Gonzalez, who has said she has been verbally harassed in the past. “I just do not want to endure this today.” Pence asked questions at the end of his speech. The last student to get up asked Pence what he would do if one of his children told him he was gay. Pence said, to a loud applause, that he would look them in the eye and say, “I love you.” He went on to say that he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. But we live in a pluralistic society, he said. And the way we come together as a country, “is when we respect your right to believe, and my right to believe, what we believe,” he said. The U-Va. The crowd responded with a third round of applause. Former Virginia Gov. George Allen, a former governor and senator, said after the speech: “It was a very political event. The audience was wonderful. I am wearing a tie from the signatories of the Declaration of Independence on the eve of Jefferson’s birthday. “You had some people here who wanted to stifle freedom of speech, but free speech prevailed.” Svrluga reported from Washington.
