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Originally Posted by ecriture d'adulte
This largely sums up why I think faculty and the administration should be able to overrule students. Students really can't take "responsibility" for stuff like this. Its the administration that's responsible for security, making statements to the media, making it clear to everybody that the speaker goes directly against the values of the university etc. Nobody in the real world or academia has this sort of consequence free power so I don't see the educational value of giving it to students.
So then make student groups pay for extra security costs. I agree that this places extra weight on the administration to distance the school from some speakers. I'm okay with that - universities should in general have a retweet is not endorsement policy for guest speakers (or even faculty members). Also, I think that particularly controversial student groups will still find themselves under a lot of pressure from administration once donors start to complain. If the student groups can't govern themselves in a way that is consistent with the university continuing its mission, then suspend them.