College Republicans Claim UC Irvine Suspended Them for a Year After Hosting Milo Yiannopoulos Event

On the heels of an event featuring conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos, the UC Irvine College Republicans were suspended by the school's administration for a year, Breitbart reported.

A few hours later, the College Republicans got an email from the school laying down the suspension, Breitbart reported. The reason? Because the student group didn't provide a certificate of insurance for private security hired to protect the speaker, the outlet noted.

Milo Yiannopoulos addresses the UC Irvine Republicans (Image source: YouTube)

About a month after the “Social Justice Is Cancer” event took place, the College Republicans attended a debriefing session with school administrators — and the student group raised the possibility of Yiannopoulos returning to campus, the outlet said.

“This is nothing more than a punishment for hosting Milo and a punishment and a deterrent for wanting to host him again," Ariana Rowlands, College Republicans' president, told Breitbart.

“We wanted his return to be a rally for young Republicans, just before the election, to invigorate and excite young conservatives to vote for the GOP," she added to outlet. "I told [the] administration this, so it is clear that this suspension that comes during such a critical election year is a political statement on behalf of UCI."

It was apparently a Herculean task just getting approval for Yiannopoulos' appearance to begin with.

The school tried to add a $1,000 fee for hosting the event, saying the College Republicans were hosting the event with a non-UCI organization — but Breitbart said that charge was soon dropped after it was contested.

“They did everything they could to stop us from hosting him the first time, and now they want to make sure that we cannot host him again," Rowlands continued. "It is a pity that the school I love deliberately sends a message to conservative students and clubs on campus, that we are not wanted here, that if you exercise your right to free speech, you will be punished, and you will be punished in such a disproportionately harsh way that it feels as if an attempt to try to exercise your free speech is futile.”

But she said her fellow College Republicans won't give in.

“We are not intimidated and we will not back down," she told Breitbart. "We are going to fight this, and we are going to win.”

Breitbart contacted the school's administration for comment, but the outlet said it hasn't received a response.

(Content warning: Rough language, adult content)