Free Republic

Public college administrators 2,700 miles apart are trying to escape legal responsibility for what some courts are calling potential viewpoint discrimination against campus chapters of the same nationwide conservative group. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made that harder for California's Clovis Community College Thursday by refusing to moot the First Amendment lawsuit against several officials by former students in its Young Americans for Freedom chapter. The question of mootness was brushed aside by the court, because even though the college being sued rescinded their "Flyer Policy" at issue, the matter was capable of repetition yet avoiding judicial review....

Update – October 12, 2021 8:45 a.m. ET Young America’s Foundation is closely monitoring the Alisal Fire near Rancho del Cielo and taking all necessary precautions. This fire started on Monday, October 11, near the Alisal Reservoir and has covered more than 3,900 acres. The fire has closed Refugio Road and portions of Highway 101. It is spreading throughout an area that has not burned since 1955, and current conditions—high winds, warm temperatures, and low humidity—are fueling the fire’s spread. Darkness and winds stopped the tanker planes from being able to drop over the fire last night. Young America’s Foundation...

Any contested election — especially in an organization filled with college students — will inevitably come with its share of drama. But drama and integrity are not mutually exclusive. One can engage in petty infighting while still maintaining respect for institutions and general propriety. Unfortunately, the College Republican National Committee’s (CRNC) credentialing process for the upcoming National Chair election, between Courtney Britt, the “establishment candidate,” and Judah Waxelbaum, who I am supporting, has been utterly devoid of respect — an unacceptable reality for an official auxiliary of a party that stands for election integrity. As we understand it, the credentialing...

The Extremist Hymn (To the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"") Mine eyes have seen the horror of the militant extreme. I have heard about their tennis shoes and eyes that madly gleam. They are armed and more fanatical than you would ever dream. I'll track down every one! CHORUS Glory be, there goes another!*** Glory be, there goes another! Glory be, there goes another! I'll track down every one! Extremists are the people to the right of Gore Vidal For they don't believe in giving in to Socialism's goals. They don't even favor foreign aid for Yugoslavs...

When Adrianna San Marco arrived at Syracuse University in the fall of 2019 for her freshman year, she was stunned at the blatant anti-conservative bias he witnessed from her fellow students and professors. San Marco knew that most college campuses aren’t bastions of free thought or tolerance of conservative viewpoints and that Syracuse had denied Young Americans for Freedom permission to establish an official chapter on campus in February 2019, but still thought they might try a little harder to hide the overtly political targeting. A political science major, San Marco is also interested in political journalism and commentary. She...

Administration at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, reportedly shot down a student's suggestion to erect a cross display for the lives of the unborn killed by abortion. The school said that it wouldn't be permitted because it dealt with a "divisive" matter. The college, which is a private institution, is affiliated with a variety of churches including the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, and the United Church of Christ. According to its website, the school maintains its affiliations with "denominations traditionally committed to the pursuit of knowledge, religious tolerance, and free inquiry and to such values as service,...

Were they REALLY dumb enough to pull this in Texas? Alright, everyone… Let’s make ’em famous! With all the excitement surrounding the idea of freedom these days, it seems a strange time to step in opposition to it. It wasn’t so long ago that a single tweet in support of the Hong Kong students threw the NBA into a firestorm of controversy, pitting their profit motive against standing with students wanting freedom. Students wanting freedom. What could possibly be more American than that, right? That’s what the group of students starting up a local chapter of YAF thought on the...

As the 2019-2020 school year begins this fall, millions of high schoolers and college students will be heading into an academic rife with politicization and heated classroom discussions. But, how do students truly feel about issues such as socialism, free speech, health care, and illegal immigration? Do these kids aged 13-22, known as Gen Z, feel comfortable sharing their true opinions? Do they even know the basic concepts of what they are discussing? To find out, Young America's Foundation, "the nation’s premier organization for inspiring students on high school and college campuses with conservative ideas," teamed up with Echelon Insights...

University of Florida’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter settled in court earlier this week, after suing their university for speech censorship and funding bias. The student group alleges the university imposed criteria that disproportionately impacted those looking to bring conservative speakers to campus.The crux of the suit revolved around money collected from mandatory student fees, which are dispersed to student groups via the student government. In its 45-page legal complaint, YAF said the student government failed to distribute funds to student organizations in a fair, viewpoint-neutral manner. Now with the suit settled, UF will change its policy in addition to paying $66,000 in...

The absolute intolerance of leftists who reject anyone holding a different political perspective was put on stage on Santa Clara University recently when student leaders refused to allow a conservative organization on campus. The situation developed in a vote rejecting the Young America’s Foundation. That group, which has chapters on campuses across the nation already, is dedicated to assuring that the messages of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise and traditional values are available to those who want them. It works to provide its message through conferences, seminars, educational materials, internships and speakers. The organization announced recently that...

Christians are called to be strong and courageous. But that’s not what Christian students are being taught on many Christian college campuses today. Too often, they’re taught to fear and to hide behind a false pretense of grace while extending none. Christian writer, speaker and author—Matt Walsh—was protested by college staff and students, at Baylor University, who didn’t want to hear a Biblical perspective on culture-shifting issues. How dare a Christian father speak Biblical truths about abortion, marriage and gender! That’s “hate speech." This is intolerable in a day and age when many define their own subjective truth which cannot, apparently,...

The latest chapter in college insanity comes from Syracuse University.  Based on reports, the U.S. Constitution may be offensive to foreign students, or something like that: Syracuse University denied an application for Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) to become a Registered Student Organization (RSO), stating, as one of its reasons for doing so, that requiring students to believe in the U.S. Constitution is "exclusionary to international students." The story gets sillier after more reading: Of the Syracuse University registered student organizations that appear political in nature, Campus Reform identified six of them as left-leaning while just one is conservative.  This is insane....

Young America's Foundation scored a legal victory against UC-Berkeley this week after a judge in San Francisco refused to dismiss the organization's lawsuit against the university for infringing on the First Amendment rights of conservative students and speakers on campus. “Young America’s Foundation looks forward to moving on to the merits of this case and vigorously defending our claims at trial. This ruling allowing YAF’s critical First Amendment case to move forward is a win for conservatives and free speech, and it shows that Judge Chesney believes there is significant evidence of Berkeley’s work to suppress conservative speech," Young America’s...

The University of Virginia says it will not recognize a conservative club because the organization limits its membership to those who affirm conservative principles. In a letter on Friday, lawyers for Young America’s Foundation said the university’s policy is both “unconstitutional” and a violation of Virginia state law. “A pro-choice club may deny leadership positions to pro-life students, and a gun control group may determine that it does not wish to extend membership to NRA members,” Casey Mattox, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, wrote in the letter. “Yet, by the terms of this policy — and its application...

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) has long been a cesspool of moral rot and corruption. My longtime readers will recall that the first speech I ever gave on a college campus was at UNCG in 2004. The university had just spent $3,000 the night before to fund a speech by a porn star that referred to herself as the “Queen of Anal Sex” (I promise I am not making this up). But they refused to fund my speech on the First Amendment because it was “too offensive.” To cap it off, UNCG told the College Republicans (CRs)...

The city of Berkeley was on alert. Barriers were erected to stop violent protesters. Bank of America boarded up windows. Police were authorized to use pepper spray if merited. Traumatized UC Berkeley students were offered counseling if needed. A campus crowd chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, white supremacists have got to go.” And a large sign read, “We say no to white supremacist b-s.” What was causing this disturbance? Why the massive disruption? As tweeted by Tariq Nasheed, “Suspected white supremacist Ben Shapiro, who tries to mask his racist rhetoric by claiming to be jewish, is in Berkeley now #BenAtBerkeley.”...

Caleb Slater, a conservative student and the president of the Ithaca College Republicans, recently attended YAF’s 39th Annual National Conservative Student Conference, where he received a baseball cap with the Young America’s Foundation logo and our slogan, “The Conservative Movement Starts Here,” printed on the back. Caleb chose to wear his YAF hat when he attended a vigil in Syracuse, New York, for the victims of last weekend’s violent clash in Charlottesville. “I wore my Young America’s Foundation hat to the rally as a symbol of peace,” Caleb explained. “I wore the hat to show that conservatives condemn the actions...

For the past two years, the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Southern Methodist University displayed nearly 3,000 American flags on a prominent university lawn to remember those killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But Old Glory won’t be posted on the Dallas Hall Lawn this year – even though the display had been well-received by the student body. The university objected to the location of the display, citing a revised policy aimed at protecting students from “harmful or triggering” messages. “While the University respects the rights of students to free speech, the University respects the right of...

Young America’s Foundation officially filed charges on Monday in federal court against UC Berkeley and Janet Napolitano, the president of the University of California, for appropriate & safe venue for Ann Coulter’s speech on Thursday plus damages.

Dinesh D'Souza Speaking Now at Columbia University.