On Tuesday, Sept. 30, Steven Crowder returned to SMU’s campus. He invited students to debate with him in his popular series, “Change My Mind.” The event was held on the lawn of the Bob Smith Health Center.
Crowder is a conservative political commentator who hosts “Louder with Crowder,” a daily political podcast and YouTube channel. He has hosted debates at SMU’s campus multiple times.
In an exclusive interview with Steven Crowder, he told The Daily Campus that SMU was one of his first stops when he started “Change My Mind” years ago, and his only Dallas visit this time.
“With what we do here, in the era of clickbait, it’s having a fully authentic conversation,” Crowder said. “When I first started, I was like, ‘Hey, let’s have the kind of conversation we have in real life.’ So, we make sure that we include them in the full context, in the ideal scenario, where someone’s mind actually gets changed.”
Crowder emphasized his message in that exclusive interview, explaining that open and civil debate is at the center of his work.
“I’ve been hearing from the left, ‘Hey its come up upon the right to tone down the temperature,’” he said. “Tone it down from what? Sitting down and having a conversation? How do we turn it down from that? Silence? And I think right now we’re at a point in this country where you have, by and large, political violence coming from the left.”
Ben Voth, a professor of rhetoric and director of debate and speech, sponsored the event in hopes of bringing stronger free speech to the university. When Crowder’s team reached out, Voth agreed to host.
“I really do believe that debate and dialogue is really important, and honestly more important than ever,” Voth said. “As a private university, there are a lot of unique things that they can do to constrain y’all, but there needs to be a more robust First Amendment.”
With the recent news of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Crowder framed his debate around the statement, “The Left is Violent.”
Initially, people were hesitant to step forward and debate Crowder, due to the majority of the crowd being conservative and agreeing with his viewpoints.
“We are, of course, a pretty conservative-leaning school, a small school. I mean, we’re in Dallas, Texas and at a private school. Our whole culture is that we generally agree with him,” SMU sophomore and event attendee Lillian Chester said.
However, SMU student Madison Thrasher was the first person to debate Crowder.
“It was a formal debate. He wanted to at least get me to admit that the left is the reason we have political violence in America. It’s a protective mindset for me to also just be like, there’s rational people that I can disagree with,” Thrasher said. “There is a line that’s forming now, so I know there’s gonna be a lot of people who are going to speak, and I’m very excited to see that.”
There was a heavy police presence on campus surrounding the event, from Crowder’s vast security team to Texas state troopers, SMU Police, Dallas Police and firefighters.
“We work closely with a range of local, state, and federal partners to ensure the safety of our campus community and visiting guests,” SMU Chief of Police Jim Walters said in an email statement to The Daily Campus. “We are fortunate to have strong, longstanding relationships with our public safety partners, which allows us to provide a coordinated and effective security presence for campus events.”
Crowder wore a bulletproof vest, and stood behind a large bulletproof barrier.
“I’m tired of sitting down in this bulletproof vest. It’s killing my spine,” Crowder said as he stood up.
There were no microphones or audio speakers during the debate, so the audience could not hear the conversations between Crowder and the students. His team did this intentionally. This was set in place by his team due to security reasons.
The crowd consisted of over a hundred people that ebbed and flowed throughout the entire event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., including SMU students and non-SMU students alike.
Joel and Jessica Dickson traveled from Hazel, Texas with their baby to support Crowder and hear the arguments.
“I thought we’d be able to hear the discussion and everything going on while we’re out here, but I guess I can understand it,” Joel Dickson said. “While they’re trying to make their points to Steven, if all of us are hearing it, people out here are naturally gonna want to interject and throw out their opinion. I think it helps them stay more grounded while they’re trying to focus on the conversation.”
Lyle Senator Markus Mortenson attended the event and suggested that Crowder’s debate should be discussed in their weekly Senate meeting, which coincidentally took place that day.
“I feel that this is a very important thing to be doing, especially in such close proximity to what we’ve seen happen recently and politically,” Mortenson said. “It’s pretty cool to see that while we’re simultaneously in Senate discussing and fighting for freedom of speech, that we see that being played out actively on campus.”
