The Texas A&M Chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas is a group of the most conservatives students on the most conservative college campus in the nation. However, the YCT contends that Texas A&M is not as conservative as it is portrayed. The mission of the YCT, as articulated by the Chairman, is to "turn a passive, silent, oblivious majority of conservatives into an active, vocal, aware majority" and to "defend and revive conservatism among the American people...before we lose what has made Texas and this country great and blessed." So how exactly are they going to accomplish their mission? By fighting "liberalism wherever it may be."
A new tool being used by conservative activist is CampusReform.org, which was created by The Leadership Institute, a Virginia based training organization for potential conservative political leaders. The Leadership Instituted, which labels itself as a "a non-partisan educational organization," includes such notable "non-partisan" alumni as Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, President of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist, and the "non-partisan" Karl Rove.
As Campus Progress reported, the Leadership Instituted launched a social networking site CampusReform.org so students can report and organize against professors that they view as politically biased. One of the main features of the site is the ability of students to rate professors anonymously, using a scale ranging from liberal to conservative.
There where five faculty members of Texas A&M University that where listed: Antoin Schwab, Ben Harper, Kimberly Brown, Tanya Weathers, and Terence Lamb. Besides being labeled as liberals they all have one thing else in common: all of them are African-American. According to the Office of Diversity, of 2609 faculty members at Texas A&M 93 are African-American (3.5%). The probably of choosing five African American faculty at random is 5x10^-6%, or one in 19,000,000. This gives the perception of racism because it insinuates that African-American professors are "not like the real A&M", and "not like us".
Professor Kimberly Brown was the only professor for which a "review" has been submitted, and the review was submitted by a former student who has not taken a class with Professor Brown. However, according to the review "it is clear from the 2008 Freshman Convocation keynote address that she gave and from her public support of Bill Ayers, the Weather Underground terrorist and Marxist, that she is a far-left wacko." The review does not give any substance to the claim that she teaches with a liberal bias, which is the whole point of the web site.
The writer of the review, the former Chairman of the Texas A&M Chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas, wrote on the site that he's active on CampusReform to "smash left-wing scum". This is also coming from someone that wrote a blog stating that "not all cultures are created equal. Cultural relativism is a pernicious sham." And wrote another blog asking the question "how can homosexuals possibly take pride in their homosexuality?"
It is difficult to take anything seriously declared by an organization that could very well be called the Young Caucasians of Texas. This organization has a history of racist and homophobic activities. From the subtle racism against African-American professors to the blatant racism of an "affirmative action bake sale," the YCT has risen being privileged and intolerant to almost a Zen like state.
Universities are places that are designed to foster debate, but in many ways it seems like the Young Conservatives are not interested in debate. From the rhetoric that is expressed it seems much more like they are more interested in telling anyone who holds a different point of view that their views are wrong. It is this type of political discourse that has become indicative of the larger national political discussion, the idea that concessions on any issue or compromise on any level is out of the question.
The Young Conservative have never seemed interested in meaningful debate or an attempt to reach consensus, they are much more interested in engaging in political combat. Some of us, on both sides of the ideological isle, are more interested in actually making meaningful contributions to the larger political discussion. Some of us understand the irony in shouting "No more taxes!" while attending a public university. Some of us still believe that public service is not something that should be mocked, but something that should be encouraged. Some of believe that it is what you believe in that should define you, not just what you are against.
Update:
Notice from CampusReform.org: CampusReform.org was alerted to the post, and within an hour, the four names that had no description were removed from the webpage. As soon as content as flagged, we investigate. If it violates our Terms of Service or is inappropriate, it is deleted immediately.
