Posted on 03/01/2016 10:42:48 AM PST by Academiadotorg
A pair of incidents remind us that we are still living in a democracy and peaceful pushback can work, even on a college campus.
Both stories involve Young Americans for Freedom. Two years ago, Virginia Tech cut off funding to the campus chapter of YAF when the group invited former U. S. treasurer Bay Buchanan, sister of conservative columnist Pat Buchanan, on campus to speak on immigration reform.
Now, "After a long battle, Virginia Tech administrators reversed the Student Budget Board's decision and returned funding to VT YAF," Emily Jashinsky writes in the Winter 2016 issue of Libertas. Libertas is published by the Young America's Foundation. Between 2014 and 2016, Fox News covered the story and V-Tech administrators did not like the publicity.
Last year, when the YAF chapter at George Washington University tried to opt out of sensitivity training, left-wing groups on campus demanded that the chapter be defunded, according to Jashinsky, but "GW YAF's story went viral, earning coverage on Fox News, Daily Caller, Brietbart, Washington Times, and many other outlets."
"Most importantly, top administrators assured students that no mandatory sensitivity training would be held at George Washington University."
The thread working through both stories to their resolution is that the students "took their battles off campus," as former AIA executive director, and YAF alumni, Dan Flynn, has often advised.
We don’t live in Democracy....that’s part of our problem. Too many people think we do.
Push....BACK!....but not measure for measure like we did in Viet Nam! Overkill, like we do now - overwhelming force.
Trump is a daily walking lesson in that.
There is something sad and slightly comical about this story.
Demanding compulsory funding from Virginia taxpayers and student tuition does not strike me as an appropriate goal - or a victory - for a Conservative political organization.
No matter what, the American people will always believe they have a “democracy”. GWB used that term all the time too.
YAF are simply making the left live up to their own rules which is a good thing. If enough lefty’s start questioning why their tax money is supporting conservatives perhaps they, like us, will question the wisdom of funding any campus groups.
Background: When I went to school, back in the stone age, student groups were funded by part of one’s tuition. So, Palestinian, GLBT, Communist, etc. student groups were all being funded by part of my - and every other student’s - money. The University had rules regarding the process by which one could form a group, and I’m going to assume this school runs in a similar manner.
Back to the article: The Conservative student didn’t make the rules, and they would probably agree with you regarding mandatory funding of different groups. But, since those rules are the ones in place, they have the right to get funded, just the same as, say, Queer Communist Cross-Dressers of Gaza.
I see the YAF funding issue in the same way I see tax funding for the Republican Convention and tax funding for Republican candidates.
We should refuse it; we should publicly brag about refusing it; and we should relentlessly criticize every political organization that accepts it.
that’s a good point. As a measuring tool of the university’s need to “walk back” a policy, it is problematic, sort of the reverse of the great line by M. Stanton Evans—”Liberals don’t care what you do as long as it’s compulsory.”
That’s a terrific, astounding one liner.
I’m familiar with MSE, but have never heard it before.
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