Well done, Aggieland: Texas A&M University Defends The First Amendment

As the father of a couple of Aggies, we generally follow Texas A&M stories in our home.

This is a story that caught my eye recently:

Campus Reform reported that Texas A&M Students For Trump President Dion Okeke was notified by the university’s Student Conduct Office that he was “required” to meet with the office after he and other members put up pro-Trump signs on campus. If he did not attend the meeting, the letter he received stated, he could face student conduct "charges."

The university has now canceled the meeting and issued a statement of apology.

Happy ending.

The university apparently sent him a template letter and then walked it back. Between the first letter and the apology, Texas A&M danced around the issue and confused everyone.

The bad news is that a harmless Pro Trump sign got someone angry. The good news is that the administration recognized its error and apologized.

The First Amendment lives at Texas A&M!

Campus Reform has an update: Texas A&M has apologized and blamed a template for the situation.

The Student Conduct Office claimed that a “standard letter template” was used when it originally contacted Okeke. It admitted that the letter “failed to state that neither the student leader nor the student organization – the victims – were under investigation.”
“There was no issue with the signs being posted, only with the inappropriate removal by others,” the statement reads.

So what really happened according to the update is that after Okeke and his group posted the signs, someone else was stealing them. That was the complaint, making Okeke and his group the victims.

Theft and vandalism happen all the time, as a matter of routine, to Republican signs on and off campuses nationwide. If Texas A&M was really following up to stop that, good on them. Sign vandals and thieves should be stopped. It should be viewed as tampering with elections. In the Austin city council election runoff, which is today, I’ve seen numerous signs for District 6 challenger Mackenzie Kelly spray-painted with all manner of graffiti. The defunded APD is probably not prioritizing that crime. The woke city council would prefer that everyone “invite wonder” instead.

Okeke remains suspicious as to why he received the threatening letter in the first place, showing that the young man is not one who is easily fooled.

Citing how Texas A&M touts its “acceptance of all political ideologies,” Okeke said that the university’s “action says otherwise.”
“I also ponder the idea that what if I never took any action? What if I accepted the initial letter face value? Could Texas A&M have quietly slipped me under the rug when it was too late for me to act? This idea may be irrational or unfounded however, this is the reality and impression Texas A&M has indirectly or directly imposed on core valued students,” Okeke told Campus Reform.

Yep, The First Amendment lives at Texas A & M University until the next time some faceless and nameless liberal decides to challenge it with impunity and a total lack of fear and accountability. You see, one can be punished falsely for allegedly violating the amendment, but never for falsely accusing someone of having done so. Okeke could have been punished for exercising his right under The First Amendment, but there is absolutely no possibility of the accuser ever being punished in any way. The liberals get to throw rocks for free regardless of the damage they may do.

The bad news is that an unfit person (or a group of unfit persons) has been allowed access to government power and is using it to suppress basic civil rights of US citizens. This may be simply a misjudgment/misunderstanding of the procedures for handling complaints or it may reveal a deeper character flaw. The fundamental error is believing that government power can appropriately be used to suppress political speech because the managers of that power dislike its content.

It probably should be remedied by removing the offender(s) from office as suspension/reeducation/restoration puts the temptation and the tempted in close contact again.

Unfortunately, persons of better character are often too busy to be bothered with the minutie of self-governance. This is when the self-interested and self-empowered begin their “march through the institutions.”

It’s Texas. So let’s chalk this one up to responsible university leadership realizing that a fundamental violation of civil rights was beginning to occur and nipping it in the bud. I’d hate to think the cancellation and apology was solely motivated by something as crass as bad publicity and the threat of a lawsuit.

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