A series of lectures that began in early September and continued through this month aimed to challenge — and debunk — the argument that Christopher Columbus was a racist, colonizing murderer. The lectures were sponsored by the National Italian American Foundation and featured speaker Dr. Mary Grabar, author of the books “Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation against America” and “Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America.”

The series kicked off at the Columbus Citizens Foundation in New York on September 8 and University of Central Florida on October 6. However, the planned talk set for the University of Florida on October 3 was canceled. A university spokesperson told The College Fix it was “impossible” to determine why the event was canceled and Grabar said she could not say as well.