YAF Demands University Leaders Ensure Conservatives Are Safe and Welcome

Young America’s Foundation President Governor Scott Walker announced Wednesday that he is sending a letter to the leader of every college and university in America — as well as to the chair of each institution’s governing board — urging them to sign YAF’s Contract for Safe Campus Dialogue.

On behalf of YAF and its thousands of student activists nationwide, the contract asks leaders of each institution of higher education to pledge they will:

• Ensure that conservatives, as well as others along the ideological spectrum, are welcome to talk on campus.
• Ensure that students, speakers, and staff are safe at all events on campus by allocating appropriate security.
• Ensure that all school faculty, staff, and administrators support all students along the ideological spectrum equally and in good faith.

As Governor Walker’s letter to school leaders emphasizes:

“The politically motivated murder of activist, husband, and father Charlie Kirk should serve as a wakeup call to the higher education community. It is beyond high time that colleges and universities acknowledge that they have a special responsibility to create a safe environment for the free and open exchange of ideas and open inquiry on their campuses.

This responsibility carries additional weight when it comes to conservative speakers and students, who face heightened risk to life and limb in the current political environment.

Public colleges and universities have a legal obligation to comport with the First Amendment’s constitutional protections for free speech and association. However, no institution of higher education—public or private—can be worthy of the name if it permits the assassin’s veto to silence free expression, inquiry, and association.
 
On behalf of thousands of students nationwide, Young America’s Foundation asks you and your institution to sign the Contract for Safe Campus Dialogue and commit to making your campus safe for conservative ideas and speakers.”

“Historically, Young America’s Foundation has sponsored more conservative speakers than any other group in the country,” remarked Governor Walker. “Now, we will join with every other conservative organization working on college campuses to ensure the safety of every student, speaker, and staff member while increasing the number of conservative speakers on campus. YAF has and always will have our students’ backs,” he added. “We will be stronger than ever.”

A sample of the letter — containing YAF’s Contract for Safe Campus Dialogue — being sent by Governor Walker can be viewed here.