In recent years, leftist “acknowledgment statements” have become a staple of higher education, with universities across the country issuing declarations on “stolen land,” leftist gender ideology, and “anti-racism” at the beginning of syllabi, during freshman orientation sessions, and in some cases, at the start of each day of class. But the University at Buffalo’s Department of Media Study has taken this trend to a new extreme. Unlike the usual proclamations of leftism, the department has seemingly permanently enshrined a statement targeting Young America’s Foundation speaker Michael Knowles on its homepage.
The statement, which condemns Knowles for allegedly making “threats of eradication and genocide” against the transgender community (something that never actually happened), is not just a one-off reaction to his appearance on campus — an event that took place more than one year ago. Instead, the department has chosen to keep their bizarre grievance alive as a permanent fixture of their public-facing image.
In reality, Knowles’ remarks in question were, “For the good of society and especially for the good of the poor people who have fallen prey to this confusion, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely, the whole preposterous ideology — at every level.”
Addressing the leftist media’s libel campaign during his speech at Buffalo, he said, “I am not quite sure how someone could hear those words and conclude that I was calling to murder all the transvestites. When one calls to eradicate poverty, one is not calling to murder the poor. When one calls to eradicate cancer one is not suggesting that we ought to murder cancer patients.”
The condemnation statement’s continued presence on the department’s home page does not appear to be a simple oversight. Young America’s Foundation reviewed archived versions of the page throughout the past 14 months and discovered that the website is actively updated and maintained.
While universities are meant to be places where ideas — especially controversial ones — can be discussed and debated, the University at Buffalo seems to have taken the opposite approach. Rather than fostering an environment of open dialogue, they’ve made it clear that certain viewpoints are not just unwelcome, but actively condemned.
Despite the University at Buffalo’s attempts to suppress conservative voices like Michael Knowles, his appearance was a huge success, drawing more than 600 hopeful attendees, some who were unable to get in due to capacity limits.
You can ignite the Conservative Movement on YOUR college campus–host a YAF speaker this semester!
