An Oct. 7 discussion featuring a pro-Israel activist was moved off campus after NYU Law administrators told students to postpone it as a preemptive measure against potential protest in the area.

The discussion is held by NYU’s chapter of the Federalist Society — a student-led conservative and libertarian legal organization — and will feature Ilya Shapiro, an outspoken Zionist who has endorsed deportations of anti-Israel protesters. Shapiro was invited to discuss his book “Lawless: The Miseducation of American Elites,” which cites concerns of “institutional weakness” at prestigious law schools he says were too lenient with pro-Palestinian protests and encampments.   

On Sept. 10, Penelope Fernandes, who oversees institutional programming at the NYU School of Law, requested that the group postpone the event to ensure a “disruption-free” program. She suggested they instead host it in the lower level of Lipton Hall, which offers additional security. 

“For security reasons, and because we anticipate an increased likelihood of demonstrations and protests connected to the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 incidents in Gaza, would it be possible to host Mr. Shapiro on another date?” Fernandes wrote in an email to the Federalist Society obtained by The Washington Free Beacon. 

The students agreed to relocate the event but declined to change the date, saying they did not want to capitulate to others’ negative reactions to their views. However, one week later, Fernandes told the students that they could not host Shapiro on Oct. 7 at all. Megan McDermott, one of the law school’s associate deans, added that NYU security would be strained that week due to another event — though she said she was not aware of upcoming protests.

“This is not a decision based on the proposed program or speaker but rather based on an obligation to provide enhanced security generally on campus during that week,” McDermott wrote in another email to the Federalist Society. “I very much hope that your organization will be able to host your guest either by Zoom on October 7 or on campus during another week.”

NYU Law spokesperson Michael Orey said in a statement to WSN that the event was not canceled, but that students were informed that the school could not offer accommodations on that day. He said students were offered alternative dates to reschedule.

“Shapiro is welcome to come speak here at NYU Law and has appeared here in the past,” Orey said. “We remain willing to work with students to find a time for him to do so in the future.”

On Sept. 24, Federalist Society members met with NYU Law Dean Troy McKenzie, who reportedly countered that the cancellation was unrelated to protest threats. He said it was rather enacted as part of a general pause on outside speakers that week, in anticipation of a “private event” that would require all available personnel.

Orey, however, stated that outside speakers are welcome during the week of Oct. 7. The law school is hosting several speakers that week, including one at the Federalist Society on Oct. 8.

Federalist Society members argued that because events are approved on a rolling basis — and they filled out the paperwork to host Shapiro two weeks before completing the paperwork for their Oct. 8 event — any constraints from law school administrators should have been placed on the latter event, not Shapiro’s.

Shapiro confirmed in an X post on Wednesday that the event, which will still be held on Oct. 7, will take place at a “nearby off-campus venue.” It will now also feature two federal judges and Nadine Strossen, the former head of the American Civil Liberties Union, to discuss “free speech and antisemitism.”

The free expression watchdog organization Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which recently gave NYU an “F” in its annual free speech ranking, criticized the university for its approach to the Federalist Society event.

“Universities cannot selectively disfavor one speaker while approving other major events on the same day,” FIRE wrote on X. “NYU must reaffirm its commitment to free expression by ensuring that all student groups, regardless of viewpoint, can peacefully host events with invited speakers without facing censorship disguised as logistics.”

In April, NYU’s Center for Neural Science moved online for an annual conference co-hosted by the Weizmann Institute, a research school involved in Israeli weapons manufacturing, to keep it “secured from disruptive protest.”

Contact Leena Ahmed at [email protected].