By: Elizabeth Guldimann
The Stanford College Republicans chapter is again facing opposition on campus–this time, from Stanford Daily’s Editorial Board chair who is calling for their chapter to be expunged from campus.
Claire Dinshaw wrote a scathing editorial demanding that the SCR chapter be removed from the campus, claiming the group uses “hateful and discriminatory rhetoric,” despite failing to cite any such examples. Dinshaw also claimed that SCR’s “consistent disregard for student safety” was grounds for removal, while intentionally omitting dangerous and violent acts of opposition that SCR has faced on campus.
SCR attempted to respond to the baseless accusations in their own op-ed in the Stanford Daily, but was denied publication by the paper’s Editor-In-Chief Erin Woo. “After consultation with our opinions editors, we have decided that it does not meet our editorial standards, so we will be unable to publish it at this time,” Woo wrote. She did not provide further clarification on which editorial standards were violated. Read the SCR op-ed here.
This is not the first time the publication has denied the club a defense to accusations made against them, doing the same last summer and baselessly labeling an SCR piece on Black Lives Matter riots as “racist.”
“Far from being committed to publishing diverse viewpoints, we are sad to see the Stanford Daily’s active role in promulgating leftist fascism and ideological conformity,” Stephen Sills, president of the Stanford College Republicans told YAF. “The Stanford Daily is the ideological reflection of the most radical elements of the campus Left. We’ve received an outpouring of support from Stanford students on the right and center-left, and it’s clear that Stanford students see the value we provide to healthy debate and civil dialogue on Stanford’s campus. It is clear through the lies and smears in Dinshaw’s piece that she has never attended a single one of our speaker events. It is blatantly clear that individuals such as Ms. Dinshaw have no interest in attending our events or understanding our point of view. Rather, Dinshaw joins a concerning trend of students interested stifling any and all healthy debate and civil dialogue at Stanford.”
It’s sadly unsurprising to see censorious leftists attempting to take the reins at Stanford. They have been trained to accept only opinions that fall in line with their own, while excusing any other ideas as racist, sexist, or bigoted. True freedom of speech cannot exist at Stanford until the ability to assemble and speak freely is equally protected for all students.
Elizabeth Guldimann is a National Journalism Center intern at YAF’s New Guard.
