National Review's Lowry blasts ISU over speaker cancellation

Conservative writer and editor Rich Lowry is criticizing Indiana State University's decision to cancel his Sept. 30 appearance because of what the university described as "campus and community safety concerns."

Lowry, editor-in-chief at the National Review and a columnist for King Features and Politico, was slated to appear on campus Sept. 30 as part of the University Speaker Series.

ISU previously described him as "a respected conservative voice" in a news release.

Lowry, who has been accused by some of using a racial slur to refer to Haitian migrants during an appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show on Monday, says the alleged slur actually was a mispronunciation.

"Everyone in my business takes lumps for things they say. That comes with the territory. What's different is getting smeared for something you verifiably didn't say," Lowry wrote in a Sept. 19 National Review online .

The cancellation, he said, was the result of "malicious accounts on X the last few days that have insisted that I said a racial slur during an appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show last weekend."

Lowry said the accusation has been rebutted "even by people who disagree with me politically."

Lowry stated that he was scheduled to speak at ISU later this month, but the university scrapped his appearance.

ISU announced Wednesday that the cancellation was "in light of recent developments and following the advice of our public safety officials regarding campus and community safety concerns."

The university has not responded to requests for specifics on those safety concerns.

On Friday, the university responded, "At this time, Indiana State University has no further comments beyond what has been stated in our public announcement regarding the cancellation of Mr. Lowry's appearance. The decision was made in consultation with public safety officials based on security concerns, and our priority remains the safety and well-being of our campus and community."

If it's necessary, ISU "can provide more statements early next week," the university said.

In his National Review , Lowry responded to the cancellation by saying, "This is a classic pretext, often used by university officials to dispense with speakers they find inconvenient.

"They'd really love to have them, don't you know, but it will take as much security as is required for Donald Trump to play a round of golf, so, sadly, it just isn't possible."

Lowry continued, "Like all cancelers, the university wants you to believe that this is just an exception to its scrupulous fair-mindedness: 'It is important to stress that this cancellation is not intended to limit our neutrality on different political viewpoints,'" he quoted from the university's Wednesday statement.

He continued, "Uh-huh. Taking the side of a woke online fringe and giving it what it wants on the basis of an almost certainly nonexistent security threat doesn't speak to political neutrality."

He added, "And if there is a real security threat, what does that say about Indiana State University? If the young people under its care and tutelage are liable to storm a lecture hall if I show up, that is an indictment of them, not me."

He said he's also been canceled by the Badger Institute, which he described as "the right-of-center think tank in Wisconsin."

Lowry detailed his account of why his appearance was canceled.

On the Megyn Kelly show, he discussed the Springfield, Ohio, controversy, and, in the course of saying "Haitian migrants," he started to mispronounce the word "migrants."

Many people heard the "N-word," but Lowry argues that's not what he said.

"I began to say it (migrants) with a short "i," the way you say "immigrants," instead of the long "i" that you use for 'migrants.' I caught myself in the middle, before shifting to the correct pronunciation.

"So, I said what you might call the M-word. You can try to look up the M-word, but you will fail — because it's not a word, let alone a racial slur. It happens to rhyme with a racial slur, but that doesn't make it one," he said.

He further suggested, "You can slow down the clip and hear more clearly that what I said begins with an 'm,' and that my lips are pursed, which is what you do when you are saying 'm,' but not 'n.'

Lowry added, "None of this matters, of course, to an online mob that operates on the principle, "Shoot first, worry about discerning the truth never."

Former Indiana governor and U.S. vice president Mike Pence weighed in on X.

Pence wrote, "Come on You're better than this. is a good and decent man who is being smeared and canceled for something he verifiably never said. Reinstate his invitation. Do it now."