SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on efforts by UC Berkeley college Republicans to bring conservative Ben Shapiro to campus :
5:45 p.m.
University of California, Berkeley officials are offering to waive a venue fee for former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro to speak on campus on the date proposed by a Republican student group.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said earlier Thursday that all the venues large enough to accommodate 500 people and free of charge to student organizations were already booked for Sept. 14, when student Republicans proposed.
Mogulof says new UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ made the offer Thursday afternoon out of a commitment to free speech. The waived venue fee depends on which venue the two agree to.
He says that the student group would still need to pay for basic security costs per university policy.
School officials say they are optimistic Campus Republicans will negotiate.
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12:40 p.m.
University of California, Berkeley officials say conservative commentator Ben Shapiro cannot speak on the campus under conditions proposed by a Republican student group.
Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Thursday that Berkeley College Republicans requested a room that could accommodate 500 people to hear the former Breitbart editor on Sept. 14.
Mogulof says all the venues large enough to accommodate that many people and free of charge to student organizations were already booked for the only proposed date offered.
The decision came after previous failed efforts to host conservative speakers Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos led to protests.
The Republican student group is suing UC Berkeley over Coulter’s canceled April appearance.
The group’s vice president, Naweed Tahmas, says Berkeley’s inability to find a lecture hall more than two months in advance is laughable.
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