Students and guests attend an event hosted by the University of Texas chapter of Turning Point USA on campus in Austin, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
This summer, the University of Texas president’s office reserved the school’s Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium, Bass Lecture Hall, nearby rooms and lobbies for an unnamed all-day event on Oct. 7.
That event, students discovered this week, is an address from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, hosted by UT’s Turning Point USA chapter.
Article continues below this ad
US conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro speaks during Turning Point’s annual AmericaFest conference in remembrance of late right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2025. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)
OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty Images
On Wednesday evening, Shapiro — who co-founded The Daily Wire and has been criticized for his comments on race and gender — will address the 967-seat auditorium in the university’s public affairs school. The event is part of Turning Point USA’s “America: Love it or Leave it” tour — a fall series at universities across the country focused on promoting patriotism.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the department sponsor for the event was listed as the UT president’s office and LBJ Library, according to an online reservations document obtained by the Austin American-Statesman. After the Statesman asked UT about the reservation, the document was changed on Wednesday to identify the event as “Turning Point USA — Ben Shapiro” and the sponsor as the Thompson Conference Center, which manages the auditorium.
Casey Murphy, a spokesperson for the LBJ Library, said the library must have been listed accidentally, as “neither the LBJ Library nor the LBJ Foundation are hosting or sponsoring the event.”
Article continues below this ad
The Texas Student Experience office, which oversees student groups, consulted events staff in the president’s office about where the Shapiro talk should be located because of security concerns and a large anticipated crowd size, UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said. The president’s office has experience hosting high-security events, such as an April talk by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Last September, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a campus event in Utah, sparking fear and security concerns over chapter events nationwide.
“Safety is always our highest priority,” Rosen said. “Turning Point obviously has heightened safety concerns. Staff who normally work with the student organizations hosting guest speakers rightfully sought the advice and assistance of events staff who have expertise with venue selection.”
Article continues below this ad
The University of Texas System Board of Regents, which has ultimate authority over the venue, has a policy stating programs in the LBJ auditorium “must be educational in content, non-profit, and free of political, religious, or sales activity.” All student events held at the venue require sponsorship by an academic dean or executive officer, but being sponsored by the president’s office gives events “scheduling priority,” according to a publicly available scheduling form.
Less than three weeks after the president’s office reserved the space, UT’s chapter of Turning Point USA announced in on Instagram that the “University of Texas is hosting the America Love It or Leave It Tour October 7th!!!” The initial post did not mention a location for the event.
UT’s chapter of Turning Point USA declined to comment.
The president’s office’s reservation of this space comes as some students and faculty have raised concerns over UT leadership increasing its influence over events on campus, seemingly favoring conservative speech and sidelining liberal groups, despite the university’s pledge to uphold institutional neutrality.
Article continues below this ad
Last month, University Democrats struggled to find an appropriate venue to host leftist streamer Hasan Piker after the group’s initial location presented space and security concerns. A UT official in charge of the LBJ auditorium told the Democratic student group that the only way to get approval for a political event was through a UT department, college or school sponsorship. The official said that the group needed ultimate approval by university leadership, according to emails sent to organization president Adit Raha.
Murphy said the LBJ auditorium is owned and managed by the Thompson Conference Center and is available for student groups to rent. The LBJ Auditorium has hosted everything from graduations to talks with American presidents and comedian Kate McKinnon, according to its website.
Ella Barwick, a second-year master’s student and student leader at the LBJ School who has dealt with reservations, said it is uncommon for the president’s office to reserve a space in the auditorium or hold a space for a student group.
The 12 other times the auditorium has been reserved this semester, reservations were made by the Thompson Conference Center or the LBJ Library Foundation, according to a review of the reservation document.
Article continues below this ad
“We have never seen the president’s office reserve a space,” Barwick said. “We’ve had very high caliber government or author-type people come in. That’s all done through LBJ and through the various centers that work with us.”
Barwick emailed her concerns to interim LBJ School Dean Paul Pope and was told that the event was not sponsored or initiated by UT or the LBJ School.
As of this fall, students must get dean-level approval for any speaker “that may be considered controversial in nature,” according to the student events form for LBJ venues.
Cameron Samuels, an LBJ School master’s student who hosted an event called “Censored University” with journalist Nikole Hannah Jones in the Bass Lecture Hall this March, said that rule had been updated since their event took place. Their event was required to secure a UT security officer after the dean’s office became aware of the event partners and tone of the event, which was initially pitched as a talk on the future of education policy and civic leadership.
Article continues below this ad
Political concerns
Since the spring, UT leadership has taken a greater role in campus events. In multiple statements, officials have emphasized security concerns as the reason for their involvement, no matter the political nature of the events.
Just before Austin’s public radio station hosted its inaugural community festival this spring, top UT leadership cancelled large swaths of the event over security concerns. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey spoke at the LBJ auditorium as part of the event as other portions of the festival were forced off campus. At the time, KUT General Manager Debbie Hiott said UT’s concerns were unfounded.
Last month, University Democrats’ Raha worked for weeks to find a suitable location for his organization’s event with Piker after a UT police official told him that hosting the talk at the planned venue raised safety concerns.
Article continues below this ad
After searching for alternatives and eventually paying $20,000 in security fees to Austin Police Department and UT’s police department, the organization hosted Piker in the original planned location, the William C. Powers Auditorium. Raha condemned the university for not helping his group find another suitable on-campus venue for the Piker talk. He questioned whether the university would have responded differently for an event hosting a conservative speaker.
It is not clear if President Jim Davis played a role in his office assisting UT’s Turning Point USA chapter in booking a space for Shapiro.
UT’s dean of students typically oversees student organizations’ speaker request forms and events, but as of this fall, the university no longer has a dean of students or a stand-alone student affairs department. That division was consolidated with the admissions department into the new Texas Student Experience division.
Article continues below this ad