J McAnany

On Oct. 24, a student organization at Penn State’s main campus will host the founder of the Proud Boys and a conservative media contributor for a lecture and discussion.

The event, called “Stand By & Stand Back,” will be held in a lecture hall on campus on Monday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m., and will feature Gavin McInnes, founder of the right-wing extremist Proud Boys group, and “professional troll” Alex Stein. The two will visit the campus for a lecture endorsed by Uncensored America, a student organization that “fights for free speech,” according to their website. The organization is paying the speakers for their appearances with funds provided by the university from the Student Initiated Fee.

Some students have objected to the scheduled lecture, including the Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity (SCDS)—formerly known as Students Against Sexual Violence. The organization will host a protest outside of the lecture hall and call for the university to deny Uncensored America’s “attempt to pay thousands of our student-fee dollars to [the] f*ascist, white suprem*cist organizer,” according to the event flyer.

Uncensored America was founded in 2020 by Penn State student Sean Semanko, former president of Turning Point USA’s Penn State chapter. The organization has previously hosted other prominent conservative and far-right political commentators, like Milo Yiannopoulos and Elijah Schaffer.

According to their website, the organization’s goal is to “fight for the censored, banned, cancelled, and average Americans like you to speak and laugh freely again.” They feel that “the establishment are censoring any thought provoking or colorful conversations they don’t like,” especially universities. They also claim they will “facilitate open and honest conversations with many different viewpoints” and “empower people” who are afraid to express their opinions.

SCDS claim that Uncensored America “doesn’t care about ‘censorship’” and that “that word is a smokescreen for fascist organizing.” They call on the university to stop the event or, they say, “we will prevent it ourselves.”

McInnes is a podcast host, political commentator, and self-described comedian who regularly creates controversy for his far-right political opinions and “edgy jokes.” He will be joined by Stein, a contributor for conservative media company BlazeTV. Tickets for “Stand By & Stand Back” are currently available, with tiers that range from General Admission for free to a dinner with the guest speakers for $99.