On November 26, 2024, student protesters disrupted an on-campus event titled “Welcoming life – Stories of free choice,” at the University of Milan, resulting in the event’s suspension.

The Obiettivo Studenti list, a student group, had organized the event, which was scheduled to be held on November 26 on campus, to provide a platform for students to listen to personal stories from mother’s that decided not to have an abortion, despite having difficult life situations.

In the days leading up to the event, a number of students used social media to call for the university community to boycott the event because of its “anti-abortion” stance and because it featured speakers who were opposed to Law 194, a national law legalizing voluntary abortions through the first trimester of pregnancy.

On November 27, several student groups, including Udu, Studenti Indipendenti, Cambiare Rotta, and Rebelot, organized a protest in front of the building where the event was being held. In the lead up to the start of the event, many students shouted and chanted outside.

Around the time of the first scheduled speaker, a number of protesting students forcibly entered the room. In the commotion, a university staff member was pushed to the ground. Videos also show the protesters chanting loudly, throwing water on one of the attendees, unplugging the microphones, and turning the lights off.

The disruption forced event attendees, including the speakers and roughly 300 students, to leave the room around 30 minutes after the event started.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about efforts to shut down a campus discussion by members of the university community. While students have the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, including the right to protest content and events with which they disagree, they must exercise those rights responsibly and with respect for the free expression rights and academic freedom of other members of the higher education community and society at large. Attempts to shut down campus events and discourse undermine academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/24_novembre_27/universita-statale-il-convegno-su-accogliere-la-vita-bloccato-da-studenti-di-sinistra-spintoni-cori-bestemmie-minacce-bcd90c15-4b3a-4818-a55f-38f89579axlk.shtml
https://www.tempi.it/ciellino-aborto-mancato-la-sinistra-impedisce-convegno-alluniversita/
https://tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2024/11/27/raid-collettivi-a-statale-milano-colloquio-bernini-rettrice
https://www.milanotoday.it/politica/convegno-aborto-statale-obiettivo-studenti.html