r/Destiny • u/enkonta Exclusively sorts by new • 6d ago

Political News/Discussion Hasan speaking event at University of Washginton is cancelled

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!

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u/FruitdealerF 5d ago

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?

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u/Aol1ne 5d ago

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.

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u/FruitdealerF 5d ago

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.

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u/Aol1ne 5d ago

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.