UC Berkeley 'Free Speech Week' in jeopardy

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- The student group seeking to hold "Free Speech Week" at U.C. Berkeley next week appears to be having trouble meeting the university's requirements, putting the entire event in doubt.

Milo Yiannopoulos, Steve Bannon, and Ann Coulter are the scheduled headliners for the event being spearheaded by the student group Berkeley Patriot. But university officials say while the group submitted a signed contract by Friday's deadline, they failed to pay fees for the campus venues, and that's not all.

"This failure to confirm, combined with the refusal to provide unqualified speaker lists and schedules has led the campus to question whether Berkeley Patriot actually intends to, and/or is able to, carry out the proposed events," said U.C. Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof in a statement.

U.C. Berkeley French professor Deborah Blocker is closely following the developments. She is among nearly two-hundred professors and graduate students who've signed a letter urging colleagues and students to boycott the campus during "Free Speech Week" if the event goes on as scheduled.

"It's four days," said Blocker. "I mean it won't happen, maybe, but it was planned as a major disruption of teaching or creation of absolute chaos and militarization of the campus."

In a Facebook post, Berkeley Patriot says the group will move speakers outside if necessary: "This arrangement isn't ideal for either party involved, so we would welcome the university choosing to come back to the table and allow us to continue with the indoor venues..."

Berkeley Patriot went on to say the group will have more comment on Monday.