Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos will speak Oct. 31 on campus, College Republicans at Cal State Fullerton confirmed Wednesday, Sept. 20.

The talk, a ticketed event that will be open to the public, kicks off a new speaking tour by Yiannopoulos: the “Troll Academy Tour.”

Nearly 5,000 students, professors and others have signed a petition on change.org asking administrators to block the visit.

Meanwhile, UC Berkeley next week will be the site of a week-long series of talks on free speech issues featuring Yiannopoulos and other conservative commentators, including UC Irvine student Ariana Rowlands.

At CSUF, student Republicans say bringing the controversial political commentator to campus is a victory for the free speech movement, which they feel has increasingly come under fire from some liberal students and others on campuses nationwide.

“For too long, left-leaning groups have dominated campus culture and marginalized conservative thinkers through intimidation tactics and violent protests. The CSUF Republicans provides a place for all voices to be heard,” chapter President Amanda McGuire said in a statement.

Yiannopoulos will speak at 6 p.m. Halloween night in the Titan Student Union. “In the interest of safety,” the College Republicans ask attendees to not wear costumes. Tickets for the event are $35, and will be available next week at the Associated Students Inc. information desk in the Student Union.

A former editor for the conservative Breitbart news site, Yiannopoulos is best known for his sharp barbs at progressives, including feminists and those in the Black Lives Matter movement.

A group called Students for Quality Education petitioned the CSUF administration to stop the event. CSUF officials previously said that is not the role of administration.

“While many at the university and in the broader community may find Mr. Yiannopoulos’ remarks distasteful, if not wholly objectionable, the law is clear: What some consider hateful speech is, in fact, protected speech,” officials said earlier this month in a statement.

In Northern California, UC Berkeley is preparing for a series of rallies and speeches beginning Sunday. More than 100 professors have petitioned administrators to cancel classes and activities next week because they are worried about students’ safety.

The speakers for Wednesday’s Berkeley event, addressing political correctness and higher education, include Rowlands, the UCI College Republicans chairwoman emeritus and a contributor to the Breitbart news site who helped bring Yiannopoulos to the Irvine campus last year.

“College administrators have worked tirelessly and backhandedly to stop this event, and other events like it both at Berkeley and across the state, from happening,” Rowlands wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. “My speech at Free Speech Week will be a declaration of war against college administrators that suppress conservative rights.”