USF is conducting a full review of an event held in the Marshall Student Center on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
Two student organizations, the Young Americans for Liberty and the College Republicans, hosted an event that was advertised as open to the public.
The university is currently aware of two different groups that were not allowed to enter the event, and we are assessing the circumstances of how this occurred. Based on the information gathered:
- The first group of individuals was denied entry after representatives with the event witnessed them attempting to skip the line to the event multiple times, which was at or near capacity.
- Separately, a second group of individuals was denied entry after representatives with the event reported they have made threats at similar past events at other universities.
- University personnel made decisions to deny access to the event strictly based on the information they received about behavior observed at the USF event and at past events. No university decisions were made based on the appearance or perception of religious beliefs or affiliations. USF does not tolerate antisemitism and any other harassment, discrimination or hateful expression targeting individuals because of their religion, shared ancestry or cultural heritage.
USF is collecting more information, including contacting any students who were not allowed to enter, to better understand what occurred and evaluating event protocols and processes to determine the appropriate next steps. We will provide an update as soon as one is available.