Howard Gillman, chancellor at the University of California at Irvine, and Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the Berkeley School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley write, "Contrary to the views of many protesters, individuals do not have a right to prevent others from speaking" in this commentary in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"It has long been recognized in constitutional law that the "heckler’s veto" — defined as the suppression of speech in order to appease disruptive, hostile, or threatening members of the audience — can be as much a threat to rights of free expression as government censorship," they write.
Those who disagree with controversial speakers can express their disagreement in other ways.
"In the easiest case this includes the right to hold counterprotests or competing events, or distribute critical leaflets to audience members. But it also includes expressing disapproval as a member of the audience, as long as that disapproval does not undermine the rights of the speakers and their sponsors."