Christopher Rufo, the conservative activist who helped spearhead the campaign to oust Harvard University president Claudine Gay, has been invited by the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization to speak at the University of Colorado Boulder on Wednesday.
Rufo is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, and has fought against critical race theory and efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. He is scheduled to deliver an address at CU Boulder titled “Laying Seige to the Institutions.”
Rufo helped lead the charge to oust Gay, the first Black woman to serve as Harvard’s president, after she was criticized for her testimony about antisemitism on college campuses before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in December.
Critics said Gay did not condemn antisemitism strongly enough after she was asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., whether calls for the genocide of Jews would violate Harvard’s bullying and harassment policies, and Gay replied, “It can be, depending on the context.”
Gay received additional scrutiny for plagiarism allegations that were investigated by Harvard. The university found “duplicative language” but determined Gay’s work didn’t rise to the level of misconduct. Conservative activists including Rufo continued to publicly pressure the university to act against the president, which ultimately resulted in Gay’s resignation earlier this month.
Rufo told Politico that Gay’s resignation was the result of a coordinated campaign.
“It shows a successful strategy for the political right,” he told Politico. “How we have to work the media, how we have to exert pressure and how we have to sequence our campaigns in order to be successful.”
CU Boulder’s Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization has been under fire for hosting controversial speakers in the past, including Charles Murray, who argued lower IQ scores of racially diverse Americans were linked to their genetics.
The Benson Center was designed to be a stronghold for conservative views at a left-leaning academic institution, but even its founding director labeled as a “failure” the center’s appointment of John Eastman, the conservative scholar-in-residence who has since been indicted on charges he assisted Donald Trump’s efforts to maintain the presidency following his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Those events occurred while Eastman was working for CU.
“When speakers come to campus, they are protected by the First Amendment to express their views,” Nicole Mueksch, a CU Boulder spokesperson, said of Rufo’s appearance. “Their presence does not mean we agree with or endorse their views.”
Rufo will speak from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Chancellor’s Hall/Auditorium on the fourth floor of the CASE building. The event will also be livestreamed. Ticket information can be found at colorado.edu/center/benson/christopher-rufo.
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Updated 11:40 a.m. Jan. 19, 2024: This story has been updated to more accurate characterize comments by the Benson Center’s founding director.
