Univ. of Maryland imposes 'security fee' on campus TPUSA event w/ Cabot Phillips

Cabot Phillips is senior editor at the Daily Wire.

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Turning Point USA’s University of Maryland chapter planned to host The Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips for a one-hour talk in a 40-person classroom on October 22, 2025. The university’s police department refused to approve the event unless TPUSA paid for four hours of third-party private security to wand and bag-check every attendee, despite making no such demand regarding similar events from other groups. On October 17, 2025, FIRE to UMD explaining that the university may not impose financial burdens on student groups based on the potential reaction to a group’s protected expression, as arbitrary and excessive security fees for “controversial” speakers amount to a heckler’s veto that chills campus speech. FIRE called on UMD to immediately rescind the fee and allow TPUSA’s event to proceed as planned.


As a reminder UMD students, like students everywhere, pay hefty 'student activity fees' for which there is little, if any, accountability.