A Young America’s Foundation lecture by Vince Ellison scheduled to take place at Westminster College in Pennsylvania on April 30 has been abruptly canceled by Gina Vance, leftist vice president for student affairs.
The Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Westminster requested Ellison, a passionate black voice in the Conservative Movement, to speak out against the Left’s DEI, abortion, and transgenderism agendas.
Among the restrictions on the event imposed by administrator Gina Vance were requirements for ID checks and limitations on who could attend.
Vance insisted that only Westminster students and faculty would be allowed to attend, even going so far as to exclude non-faculty staff and emeritus professors. This decision was a clear attempt to minimize the event’s audience size.
Vance also cited security concerns as a “reason” for her imposition of countless arbitrary hurdles. In fact, Vance told the Young Americans for Freedom chapter’s faculty advisor that she would single-handedly be responsible for ensuring security at the event. The administration also told the chapter that it may not hire security professionals to take on that responsibility.
Because the faculty advisor was uncomfortable with such an unusual request, she passed her advisor role onto a new faculty member, which Vance viewed as an opportunity to cancel the event altogether. Vance sent an announcement to the entire student body stating, “The College has rescinded approval of the event scheduled for Tuesday, April 30. The event has been canceled.”
Dylan Kresak, chairman of the YAF chapter, remarked, “It’s clear that the administration wants to stop our chapter’s activism, but we won’t let that happen.”
Ellison has some strong words for the administration that he shared with the New Guard: “As a black American raised in the Jim Crow south, I have two words to describe them: ‘un-American cowards.’”
Young America’s Foundation is currently working with the students to appeal the administration’s discriminatory decision and reschedule for next semester.
In response to Vance’s notification to Young America’s Foundation, Staff Attorney Madison Hahn wrote, “I am in receipt of your message directly informing us of your breach of contract.” She went on to write, “You should be ashamed of your failiure to respect the independent thinking of conservative students. In doing so, you incur liablity for Westminster College, and you sabotage the marketplace of ideas that used to make the American college a bastion of free thought.”
