By: Jacob Porwisz
Students at Penn State University are lauding a recent decision to remove a quote by the despotic Fidel Castro from campus.
Erik Suarez, a rising senior and Young Americans for Freedom activist at the school, posted to Twitter on July 13th to express concern that the university would memorialize such a repressive figure.
“The equal right of all citizens to health, education, work, food, security, culture, science, and wellbeing – that is, the same rights we proclaimed when we began our struggle, in addition to those which emerge from our dreams of justice and equality for all inhabitants of our world – is what I wish for all,” read the quote–located inside a university office where many individuals work.
In a stunning victory for Erik, the school decided to remove the quote from the campus, following a letter sent to the university president––signed by fellow conservative activists. Frank Guadagnino, VP for Administration at Penn State, said in an email obtained by YAF that “The University agrees with the concerns you [Erik] and others have expressed, and the quote is being removed.”
“This is a victory for all victims of the Castro regime in our institutions, Venezuelans, Cubans, and all victims of socialism,” Erik Suarez told YAF. “I started this because I love my university, and I believe that after removing Castro’s quote, we made it a better place.”
YAF reached out to the school for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Penn State has a rocky relationship with conservatives on campus. In January, YAF reported on a professor that blamed YAF for the January 6th riot at the Capitol. In July of 2020, Penn State controversially deleted a tweet that called for the acceptance of conservatives on campus.
Without a doubt, the removal of a quote from this disgusting historical figure is not just a win for conservatives but for every student at the university who believes in human rights. Fidel Castro is one of the most notorious violators of basic human decency in history, and he nor his quotes deserve any sort of recognition by an educational institution.
This should serve as a reminder to those who try to press on with preserving Castro’s legacy that he will forever be remembered for the terrible injustices he left on the Cuban people and that his policies are anti-freedom and anti-human.
