Penn State, conservative activist spar over whether campus event was booked correctly

Penn State says a conservative activist did not appear for a speech on campus because her event was not booked properly, although the speaker’s representatives suggested the university was using this as cover for preventing the event out of political concerns.

Riley Gaines made waves among conservative press outlets after claiming in a social media post on Monday evening that Penn State “cancel[ed] my speech tomorrow,” and implying that this was because of her controversial views.

But the university, in a statement issued Tuesday, said “no event featuring Riley Gaines has ever been canceled at Penn State.”

In 2022, Gaines competed in college swimming against transgender athlete Lia Thomas; since then, Gaines has become prominent in conservative media for speaking against transgender women being allowed to compete in women’s sports.

According to Penn State, Gaines’ proposed event at the university’s student activity center was being planned by the campus activist group Turning Point USA, but the organization “did not meet the deadline for submitting the required reservation documents,” the university wrote in its statement.

The group attempted to plan an alternative event, but “as late as last week they had no confirmation that Ms. Gaines would attend the event,” and confirmation that Gaines would show up was only provided on Tuesday morning, the university wrote.

Gaines still gave a speech Tuesday afternoon at an impromptu event outside the student activity center, according to her representatives. The Oct. 10 event is to recognize what anti-transgender activists refer to as “Real Women’s Day,” arguing that transgender women are not “real women.”

On Tuesday, Gaines said on social media that her own organization — the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, a conservative think-tank — scheduled the event after Turning Point missed deadline, which Gaines said was due to the university dragging its feet.

Gaines’ representatives said they were not required to have as much lead time as Turning Point because they were paying to rent event space.

Gaines also shared on social media a partially-redacted document titled “event confirmation” and dated Sept. 25. An unredacted copy of this document shows the event’s status as “tentative,” and Penn State spokesman Wyatt DuBois told PennLive that “the reservation was never confirmed.”

Emails between the Leadership Institute and Penn State, provided by the former, show the parties coordinating event setup starting on Sept. 22, with those emails also listing the event as “tentative.”

On Sept. 25, the institute identified Gaines as the sole speaker at the event. Penn State’s administrator then provided information for an insurance certificate, which Gaines’ camp sent over on Sept. 26, according to those emails.

The next day, Penn State’s administrator replied that the event could no longer be held on Oct. 10 “because of competing events and staffing demands.”

Despite the university’s rationale, Gaines’ group raised concern that the scheduling difficulties were being used as cover to censor speech for which the university feared backlash.

“The facts are, the university has repeatedly denied and blocked efforts to book space for Riley,” Sarah Clark, operations manager for the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, wrote in a statement to PennLive.

Gaines’ speech booking service states that her mission is “to defend and protect America’s daughters against the woke left and their gender-denying ideology.” She frequently advocates against transgender women being included in women’s sports, being allowed to use women’s restrooms, and other similar measures.

Penn State has had prior brushes with such political minefields. Last year, the university said it would allow an event featuring the founder of the far-right militant group Proud Boys in the interest of free speech – but canceled the event due to safety concerns after reported scrums between protesters and Proud Boys supporters.

Last month, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi put out a video advising more speakers that students find offensive or hateful may come to campus in the new academic year – but stressing that, as a publicly-funded university, Penn State must adhere to the First Amendment and remain content-neutral when accommodating speakers.