In the latest development in the Saint Louis University saga, school administrators are threatening to suspend or expel a conservative student for putting up posters advertising Matt Walsh’s lecture off-campus.
In a Thursday zoom call, administrators at SLU told student James Dowling he could face expulsion for alleged “failure to comply” and “inappropriate conduct.”
Dowling, a member of SLU College Republicans, was putting up posters at an off-campus location on December 1 before Matt Walsh’s appearance—which had caused quite a stir at the school. Administrators present outside the event took issue with the school and organization’s names being used on flyers for the event and demanded he remove every poster.
Since removing every poster was not feasible nor fair, Dowling, wanting to remain in the school’s good graces, offered to cross out the names with a sharpie. This was not good enough for them, despite not having any jurisdiction over the off-campus location.
“If you were to be found responsible for a policy violation, suspension or expulsion from the institution are included within the range of possible outcomes that could be applied,” Office of Student Responsibility and Community Standards (OSRCS) Assistant Director William Bowey told Dowling on the call.
During the call, he was informed that he was being charged with both “failure to comply” and “inappropriate conduct.” According to Bowey, he was “allegedly confrontational, disrespectful, and failed to comply with reasonable requests made by the staff in accordance with their duties.”
To be completely sure of this, Dowling contacted the city to ask whether the area in question is university property—it isn’t.
“During the encounter, there was no doubt in my mind that the administrators were both outside of their realm of control and acting out of personal political bias,” Downing told YAF.” I don’t know why I’m under investigation for this ordeal. I think SLU should be investing their time into investigating their bully administrators instead,” he said.
In video footage of the altercation involving two administrators, the student, and two Young America’s Foundation employees, the administrators (David Young and Jackie Weber) are hostile in their treatment of Dowling and antagonistic towards the YAF employees.
When confronted with the fact that this was not university property, and instead public city property, the administrators ignored it, demanding that the flyers be taken down despite the event beginning just 90 minutes later.
They claimed that because of their disciplinary status, the College Republicans could not post any promotional materials—on or off-campus. As YAF reported, the SLU CRs were punished by the university for daring to ask, “What is a Woman?” on Instagram.
Now, the school, which clearly has a vendetta, is attempting to schedule an official conduct hearing during finals week. So much for looking after their students’ mental well-being.
SLU has refused to comment on any of the stories Young America’s Foundation has covered on the school.
The university has proven to be a left-wing institution hell-bent on silencing and oppressing conservative students and their views. They did everything in their power to disrupt the recent Matt Walsh lecture, as YAF reported. Furthermore, nearly 300 administrators and professors signed a statement admitting their commitment to left-wing gender ideology, which directly contradicts the Catholic faith that the school supposedly adheres to. Now, they’re really crossing the line. They are trying to viciously take out their anger on an innocent student. The only way to fight these monstrous, leftist administrator bureaucracies is to stand tall and continue to stand by your beliefs. YAF has our students’ backs, always.
To voice your concern to St. Louis University, email President Fred Pestello at [email protected] or call 314-977-7777.
