YAF president pushes nationwide contract requiring colleges to protect conservative speech
Scott Walker of Young America’s Foundation called on university leaders to guarantee safety and ideological fairness amid rising campus speech controversies.
According to a press release, a contract will be sent to every university president and governing board nationwide.
On Sep. 17, Young America’s Foundation (YAF) released a press release announcing that its president Scott Walker will demand safety for conservatives on college and university campuses all around America.
According to the press release, a contract will be sent to every university president and governing board nationwide.
The contract demands that higher education institutions explicitly guarantee the right to host conservative speakers without ideological discrimination and address safety concerns for conservative students.
Colleges and universities must provide the “appropriate security” needed for “students, speakers, and staff” to be “safe at all events on campus.”
YAF argued that conservative students and speakers are facing more frequent threats, censorship, or silencing on college campuses.
Walker claimed that many higher education institutions foster a climate where conservative viewpoints are unwelcome or actively suppressed. The contract would obligate schools to adopt policies that protect speech, provide protections for conservative events, and hold administrators accountable if standards are not met.
Slain Turning Point USA president Charlie Kirk was mentioned in the contract and his death was referred to by YAF as “a motivated political murder” and should be viewed “as a wakeup call” for higher education.
YAF stated that it is “high time” for colleges to “acknowledge” their responsibility for “free and open exchange of ideas”and carries “additional weight” for the conservative speaker and students on campus.
The contract claimed that conservative speakers and students are in more danger and are under “heightened risk” due to today’s “political climate.”
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“Public colleges and universities have a legal obligation to comport with the First Amendment’s constitutional protections for free speech and association,” the statement read. “However, no institution of higher education—public or private—can be worthy of the name if it permits the assassin’s veto to silence free expression, inquiry, and association.”
Walker vowed to increase the number of conservative speakers on college campuses.
Campus Reform has previously reported that a survey taken by North Dakota State University showed that “74 percent of students say free speech is more important than personal comfort.”
