The University of Exeter Public Speaking Society is holding a speaker event with Dan Peña. Dan Peña is a billionaire beginning his career as a financial analyst and became the president of Great Western Resources, Inc., a Houston-based oil and gas exploration company. 

We are a group of students and staff who have been opposing the decision to allow Peña onto campus due to the extensive evidence of the speaker's racism, misogyny, physically threatening behaviour, evidence of committing sexual assault, making jokes about suicide and disability, and even more. I am extremely concerned about student welfare if this talk is allowed to go ahead. Undergoing this research has been incredibly emotionally draining for us on a personal level, but we are motivated by the fact that our suffering will help prevent 500 people enduring the same, if not worse, individual torment. 

During his talks, Dan Peña has:

-repeatedly expressed racist, misogynist, ableist and homophobic views
-freely used numerous racist, misogynist, ableist and homophobic slurs, and has directly admitted that he is comfortable with using such language
directly racially abused attendees
-admitted sexually assaulting an attendee at one of his talks
-physically and verbally threatened attendees. This includes an incident at the University of Florida in 2018 where Peña threatened to “snap” a student’s neck during a Q&A
-expressed support for beating children and has shown graphic images of abuse
-encouraged people that don’t agree with his advice to kill themselves

The Student Guild President has stated that the speaker has passed through the external speaker policy and risk assessments due to Freedom of Speech. However there is clearly a difference between hate speech and free speech and we have grave worries that the physical and mental well-being of students is at serious risk if Peña is allowed to deliver his talk and express his views. Hate speech and assault cannot be tolerated at the University of Exeter, a university which is committed to being actively anti-racist and is working to embed equality and diversity into all aspects of University life. Indeed, The Vice Chancellor stated in the 2030 strategy that:

“At Exeter, we seek to create a community where students and staff stand together, learn from one another and empower each other to challenge discrimination and harassment. It is both an individual and collective imperative for us. I am acutely aware that racism, homophobia, ableism, transphobia and xenophobia are part of the daily experiences of many staff and students in our community. We must do everything in our power to root out all forms of prejudice and continue to work towards becoming an inclusive and anti-racist institution. This is a time for us all to confront prejudice and discrimination, to call it out in our communities and to stand up for what is right. We all have a role to play.” 

In light of the above, we are urging the Guild to cancel this talk. No content warning will be enough for the potential hate speech and potentially physical aggression this speaker could exert and the harm it could cause. Further action will be taken by the student body to prevent this going ahead. We have attached our official statement which includes the evidence, which is also available on a publicly accessible google drive. Available here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZMAIat33czdKLRAQlSobvBVpqLGQ3M5L?usp=sharing 

To help us take action, please email your colleagues, the Vice Chancellor and the Students Guild. You can sign the petition, and if we must escalate this action further, attend our protest.