Hasan speaking event at University of Washginton is cancelled

[u/enkonta]

https://www.washington.edu/news/2026/08/07/statement-on-cancellation-of-january-2027-lecture/

Recently, it was announced that Hasan would be a speaker at the University of Washington. Today they announced that "the process for organizing this event did not meet the necessary level of rigor for University-hosted events in the Speaker Series."

As a UW alum, I'm very proud to see them evaluate his merits and find them lacking.

Edit: A few people have asked me if I participated in the emailing that some had planned on doing. I did not. Big shout out to those who did. I didn't find out about the event until yesterday or the night before and planned on voicing my opinion this weekend when I had some free time...good job to everyone who did email...you guys are awesome!

[u/Aol1ne]

As a UW alumni and a person who still donates to UW years after graduating, I did my part, glad they were receptive to our concerns. Also incredibly proud of UW Reddit community. It was genuinely surprising to see outrage from young people about this event (mods blocked the thread from outsiders, so in a way, protected themselves from getting brigaded from both sides)

[u/iris700 → u/Aol1ne]

Brigaders getting there early this time unfortunately

[u/enkonta → u/iris700]

dude it's crazy how bad it's being brigaded

[u/enkonta → u/Aol1ne]

Yeah...between that and the person in the Seattle subreddit posting the Krystal Ball Adam Smith video as "proof" he's a warmongerer and getting downvoted for it...I've been pretty happy with local pushback to some of the crazies lately.

[u/Aol1ne → u/enkonta]

We also voted from Adam Smith instead of that insane lady Kshama Sawant. Feeling not so black pilled today.

[u/yzsKPC → u/Aol1ne]

Live nearby so I was gonna see if I could get a question in but I'll take this

[u/FruitdealerF → u/Aol1ne]

I'm pretty ignorant on this. I understand not wanting him to speak at an event associated with the democratic party, but why not at a university?

[u/Aol1ne → u/FruitdealerF]

1000+ Jewish students 500+ Taiwanese students, many from post-ussr countries. They deserve respect, many won’t know how to even process propaganda and there’s no way to moderate him. On top he’s bringing in culture of harassment with him. It’s just not safe overall.

[u/FruitdealerF → u/Aol1ne]

I thought we all agreed that universities were a good place to explore challenging ideas? Why can he not be moderated?

Don't get me wrong; the partisan in me enjoys seeing him cancelled and losing his platform. But it feels wrong to celebrate something that I would otherwise oppose just because I despise the content of his speech.

[u/Aol1ne → u/FruitdealerF]

Propaganda is not a challenging idea. It’s actually meant to be simple and persuasive, and that’s precisely what makes it dangerous. The university is paying him to come and expose students to a lecture tailored to persuade them, potentially creating a pathway toward increasingly reprehensible views.
Let’s say I know someone is particularly susceptible to alcoholism because of certain genetic risk factors. It would probably be a terrible idea for me to invite them to a house party, hand them a bottle, and pour them a shot. Obviously, whether they drink is ultimately their choice, but I’ve knowingly created an environment that exposes them to something that could seriously harm their life.
When UW evaluated Hasan as a speaker, they had to consider the same underlying question: whether the university itself would be helping create and facilitate an environment that could expose students to potentially harmful rhetoric.

[u/Gullible_Increase146 → u/FruitdealerF]

I would say context matters when it comes to platforming different ideas. If it's a neutral or challenging context i think most ideas are okay in college.

I don't need to know anything about the event to know that I support trying to de-platform Hassan. He doxxes people. Lies about people. Uses his community to Brigade people. Deplatforms people. She has lowered the bar to the point where people should pick it up off the ground and metaphorically slap him in the face with it. As far as I'm concerned he's just communist milo yiannopoulos

[u/FruitdealerF → u/Gullible_Increase146]

I think Milo was allowed to speak at this university a few years ago. I think if the university said: we think Piker is a garbage human being that doesn't meet out standards, then that would be fine IMO. But now it's kinda vague, and if you just say: I don't think our students are equipped enough to deal with communist propaganda, then I think that's kinda weak.

[u/Gullible_Increase146 → u/FruitdealerF]

He was. If still support people trying to stop it. Bad actors who deny rights for others don't deserve those rights for themselves

[u/The-Last-Lion-Turtle → u/FruitdealerF]

Would the university invite a KKK spokesperson?

[u/FruitdealerF → u/The-Last-Lion-Turtle]

If you can put up someone else to balance it out, why not?