Kathleen Parker, a nationally syndicated columnist, is in McCrary theater tonight for the annual Baird Pulitzer Prize Lecture. Her visit has sparked some level of controversy after some students objected to the announcement of her visit. Stay tuned right here for live updates throughout her lecture this evening.

FIN: Over an hour and a half later, Parker's talk comes to a full close. Final thoughts: The lecture portion was fairly tangential, though it drew some laughs. The Q&A segment was fairly tense. Please check back to elonnewsnetwork.com for our full event coverage later tonight. Thank you for joining us. 

9:04 P.M. "Did I go late?" Parker brings thing to a close. The mood in the room was pretty tense for the last half hour, you get the sense that the audience breathed a sigh of relief on the way out.

9:01 P.M. Parker to Corman: "I appreciate you speaking for the Republican Party and for free speech."

9:00 P.M. The young man from College Republicans seems to be using the microphone as his own soapbox. Audience sympathy switching between Parker and audience members at the drop of a hat. 

8:59 P.M. "It's pretty clear that she's a sociopath," Elon College Republicans president Matthew Corman on Hillary.

8:59 P.M. "I understand why people want to vote for Donald Trump. They just don't like Hillary."

8:57 P.M. And now we're on to awkward conversation number three(?) as Parker and the president of Elon's College Republicans, Matthew Corman, talk Hillary.

8:55 P.M. Parker responds to a question about her heavy criticism of Trump supporters. "I'm kind of a comedian as well as a columnist. I like having a little fun. I'm not silencing anybody, it's just a joke. Can't you take a joke?"

8:54 P.M. On to the next question. Audience member asks about non-gender-binary people. "I love all human beings and I think the more happy people we have, the better. How's that?" Parker's shortest answer of the night. 

8:50 P.M. Let it be noted, Parker said she would challenge Democrats earlier, but she's spent far more time criticizing Trump and GOP. 

8:50 P.M. Parker defends the media's objectivity, especially when covering Trump. "Not all media are the same. We are not a monolith." Digresses into bashing Trump again. 

8:45 P.M. Next asker starts a question about the media's coverage of the 2016 election, he's cut off about five words in. 

8:44 P.M. "Can somebody ask me something nice now?"

8:43 P.M. "This is one of those subjects that isn't worth it. I'm a devil's advocate. ... There are plenty of scholars doing research that don't reach the same conclusion. I would never blame a victim."

8:42 P.M. Editor's note: The mood in the room is incredibly uncomfortable. The dialogue between Parker and the audience member is very awkward. 

8:41 P.M. "I think you're boring other people," Parker says to the question-asker. "I'm against rape, and I've never been raped."

8:38 P.M. Parker addresses the infamous "1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted on campus," challenging the definition of sexual assault. "I guess we were just tougher back then." That last comment was greeted with a round of applause.

8:36 P.M. "Do women really feel unsafe on this campus?" Parker interrupts audience member asking question.

8:34 P.M. "Today, I probably wouldn't have written that book." Let it be noted that Parker did not provide much of a direct response to the question.

8:33 P.M. First question is about domestic violence, and Parker's writing about "women instigating domestic violence." Parker seems immediately defensive and dismissive, claims she doesn't have an opinion on the matter, only employed statistics in her book. "I'd much rather talk about something more recent."

8:32 P.M. Parker's speech comes to an abrupt and inconclusive end. Time for the Q&A.

8:31 P.M. "I'm running out of steam here. *checks watch* Oh it's 8:30? What time did I start?" For those following along at home, Parker started at 7:30.

8:30 P.M. "We lack media literacy — news literacy — in this country. We need to start teaching that."

8:26 P.M. "I think the Republican party is broken. I don't see how it continues. I think it needs to put out a sign that says, 'Closed for repairs.'"

8:22 P.M. Parker describes Clinton as a "rockstar," says she would be a "transformational" president.

8:20 P.M. Just an observation: The casual, anecdotal tone of Parker's talk is vastly different from last week's speakers. Bob Woodward and Vint Cerf were both criticized for airing on the side of dry and factual.

8:17 P.M. Parker digressing on a tangent about a visit to the Middle East. She's been entertaining the crowd so far tonight, eliciting laughs about twice a minute. There was some hesitant, tepid laughter during her roast of Trump. 

8:13 P.M. Parker seems to be breaking from her discussion of Trump, now pivoting to Hillary.

8:12 P.M. "I've liked Hillary Clinton for a while. I like her style, her ability to stay calm."

8:06 P.M. "Are we really in the midst of a presidential election and we're really talking about a candidate calling a beauty queen 'Miss Piggy?' Donald Trump doesn't want to talk about policy — he doesn't know anything about it."

8:05 P.M. "The first thing a tyrannical strongman leader does, is he finds a group of people to blame. He blames the Mexicans, he blames the Muslims... Women are objects to him."

8:02 P.M. "The Republican party has pandered to this group of people who are easily angered, and sort of racist. Donald Trump encourages that rage. He does everything to appeal to these basest instincts. He does everything to legitimize these feelings of anger and hate towards neighbors."

8:01 P.M. "I'm an equal opportunity offender. Democrats, we'll get to you in a minute."

8:00 P.M. "Why would Trump supporters believe what he says? It's most unlikely that he can do many of the things he's promised... Here's the problem: The GOP set this table years and years ago."

7:54 P.M. On Trump: "I've covered the past seven or eight elections, and I've never heard someone who is so intentionally cruel. He invites divisiveness."

7:50 P.M. "University campuses are very sensitive. I met with students today and some of them said they were more conservative, and they felt like they couldn't express themselves. They were fearful of condemnation from their colleagues. This is a very dangerous trend on college campuses."

7:48 P.M. "We learn when we're uncomfortable, and it's not possible to expand your horizons when you hear what you are used to."

7:45 P.M. Parker suggests that she will forgo most of her planned talk about free speech, because most people in the audience will want to hear about the election.

7:42 P.M. "I appreciate deeply the commitment this university has to the open marketplace of ideas. In my own mind, I'm, like, the least likely person to inspire a protest."

7:34 P.M. Every seat in McCrary is taken. Amanda Sturgill, associate professor of communications, takes the stage to introduce Parker and thank James and Jane Baird, who provided the endowment for this lecture series. 

7:28 P.M. Members of the EFFECT club (Elon's feminist organization) outside the front door hand out flyers and pins to attendees before the start of the event.