By Katie Sanchez and Clare McKinley, Editor-in-Chief and Campus News Editor

Several student groups are expressing anger and frustration upon learning that Xavier College Republicans planned to bring conservative activist Olivia Krolczyk to speak on campus.

While Krolczyk pulled out of the event due to illness, student organizations LGBTQ+ Alliance and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) both released statements condemning College Republicans for planning the event and the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) for greenlighting the speaker request, citing Krolczyk’s speech against transgender people as hateful and dangerous.

Krolczyk became a public figure in 2023 after she posted a TikTok alleging that the professor of her Women Gender Studies class at the University of Cincinnati gave her a zero on an assignment for using the term “biological women” in a project related to women’s sports.

She is now an ambassador and Campus Reform Reporter for the Riley Gaines Institute, which protests the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports.

The now-cancelled event was titled “Her Story and Protecting Women’s Sports.” Krolczyk has spoken at similar events at college campuses across the country hosted by campus College Republicans or Turning Point USA chapters. 

“The LGBTQ+ Alliance board is disappointed in the choice to bring in a transphobic speaker in a political moment when trans+ lives are in danger,” LGBTQ+ Alliance board members said in a statement on Instagram on Thursday. “Krolczyk’s rhetoric fuels anti-trans violence and we condemn platforming this kind of speech.”

Members of College Republicans discussed this statement in a GroupMe chat for the club. During this conversation, College Republicans president and junior business major Carter Long shared a quote from conservative political commentator Michael Knowles that reads “For the good of society… transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely – the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.”

Long confirmed that he sent this message and said that it represents his own views, not an official club statement.

YDSA’s board echoed the sentiments from LGBTQ+ Alliance in their own statement, issued via Instagram on Friday. 

“Xavier administration greenlit a club bringing a person whose message incites violence against queer individuals to campus while claiming to support and protect its students,” one portion of the statement reads.

YDSA’s statement also argued that allowing Krolczyk to speak violated Xavier’s third principle of free speech and expression, which restricts speech on campus that incites violence or violates university policies regarding harassment and discrimination.

When student clubs host an event that includes an invited speaker, the event must go through an extra approval process. 

“When the plans for the invited speaker have the potential for increased risk or attention, I schedule a meeting with the student organizers and their advisor to walk through their step-by-step plans for their event,” Assistant Vice President for Leadership and Engagement Leah Busam Klenowski explained.  

A meeting was held with the student organizers of College Republicans, their advisor professor Dawn Tolonen, Senior Associate Director of Student Involvement Dustin Lewis and Klenowski.

Klenowski explained that the event went through all stages of approval based on the Student-Invited Speakers Policy including approval from the university’s Senior Rapid Response Team. After completing these steps, the event was authorized to move forward.

College Republicans declined requests for an interview, instead providing a statement asserting that they had complied with all OSI policies in setting up the event. 

“The College Republicans stand by our invitation of Olivia Krolczyk… we took every precaution to ensure that the event would be safe and welcome to all students. We believe that students at Xavier should have access to a diverse set of ideas and viewpoints,” the statement read.

President of Xavier College Democrats and sophomore Philosophy, Politics and the Public and business analytics double major Gavin Steele said, “I am extremely disappointed but not surprised,” in response to the planned event. 

“I urge the administration to hold political clubs to a higher caliber of programming. Olivia Krolczyk does not facilitate the critical thinking the institution should be pushing for,” Steele said.

Steele referenced an opinion piece written by President Colleen Hanycz that was published by The Hill last week in which she advocated for greater institutional neutrality at colleges.

“The question of neutrality will be put to the test,” Steele said.

Krolczyk has not made any public response to backlash at Xavier, and no further plans for her to speak at campus have been announced.