The student government at Stanford University has denied a conservative group funding to host Vice President Mike Pence, according to a tip submitted through Young America’s Foundation’s Campus Bias Tip Line.
According to documents obtained by Young America’s Foundation, the Stanford College Republicans’ funding request was denied by a vote of 7-6, with one abstention. A student senator told the Stanford Daily that “senators weighed student safety, freedom of speech and COVID-19 protocols” in their decision.
Interestingly enough, the Senate realized the dangerous precedent of denying funding based on viewpoint––yet decided to do it anyway.
“Denying their funding based solely on our disdain for the speaker would set a dangerous precedent that could hurt other communities on campus in the future, something we would like to avoid,” the Senate said, according to the Stanford Daily.
The College Republicans plan to file a constitutional council case challenging the decision.
“After our plans to host Vice President Mike Pence at Stanford were maliciously leaked, Stanford’s student government is now illegitimately attempting to stop the event by denying funding for the lecture,” Stanford College Republicans Chairman Stephen Sills told YAF. “Stanford leftists are still dedicated to preventing their fellow students from hearing conservative ideas. Every grant this fall quarter was approved—except our Standard Grant for hosting Vice President Mike Pence. If this funding request had been for a leftist speaker, our grant would have been approved without a hitch. Our grant was rejected explicitly because our speaker was a conservative.”
“The ASSU Senate is constitutionally obligated to approve our grant. SCR will not back down. We will actively expose the ASSU Senate and the broader Stanford administration for bias and will be considering legal avenues in the days ahead,” Sills said.
It’s no surprise that a student government filled with leftists would let their ideological preferences get in the way of promoting free speech on campus. Vice President Pence’s pro-freedom message would inspire thousands at Stanford who are usually exposed to one single ideological viewpoint––a terrifying thought for the tyrants-in-training at Stanford.
