Money-back guarantee: Chancellor Thorp right to reimburse Youth for Western Civilization for Tancredo debacle

Chancellor Holden Thorp’s decision to compensate Youth for Western Civilization up to $3,000 for bringing in a new speaker was the right one.

The decision came after the group’s intended speaker, former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., was unable to address the crowd because of protester disruptions.

The speaker shares many of the group’s extreme, xenophobic views and was met with heavy resistance from certain students.

But regardless of opinion, everyone has the right to speak, and the situation quickly dissolved into an embarrassment for all parties involved.

Ideally, the few protesters that instigated the event should pay the price. But identifying each protester would be nearly impossible.

And Thorp is right in saying that the fiasco was not only the protesters’ fault.

“We could’ve done a better job of handling the situation. We’re partly responsible,” Thorp said. “We just thought it was the right thing to do.”

Besides, there are lessons that everyone can learn from the event.

The University should’ve had a better grasp of the situation and had more security to ensure the safety of the speaker and the students.

Hopefully, the University will do a better job of mitigating outbreaks like this one in the future.

The money that Thorp offered will not come from a general fund paid for by students.

Instead, the money will come from the chancellor’s discretionary fund, which is made up of money from private donations and gifts.

And YWC must actually book a new speaker and show receipts to Thorp before receiving the money — which are important conditions.

Protesters, student groups, speakers and the administration can all take something from the event. Consider the $3,000 payment for these lessons.