Charles Krauthammer once said “what cannot continue will not continue,” and what’s going on in American higher education cannot continue.
Denying the freedom of assembly to conservatives? That can’t last without something changing soon.
A Maryland college student has filed a lawsuit against her community college after school officials denied her request to start a conservative club on campus — a choice that she said infringes on her First Amendment rights.
Moriah DeMartino, a 22-year-old political science major, said the fight with HCC began after she requested to launch a Turning Point USA chapter at Hagerstown Community College and was told by college administrators that if she wanted to start a group that was conservative in nature, a club specifically for Democrats would have to be started at the same time. The email to DeMartino also said that students cannot “start new clubs that duplicate the purpose and mission of existing clubs,” according to a blog post on Turning Point USA’s website.
According to HCC’s website, the public college’s only other political clubs include the Spectrum Club with a mission centered around LGBT issues, a National Organization for Women club that DeMartino said is more left-leaning and a general political science club.
Despite her numerous efforts and a letter from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education to get HCC’s administration to have a change a heart regarding a policy that DeMartino and FIRE called “unconstitutional,” the school does not seem to be budging. So DeMartino decided to sue using a private lawyer — a decision that she told TheBlaze was difficult to make.
“My ideal outcome would be that they reverse their policy and openly and willingly accept other students on campus for their views — whether it be political or not,” DeMartino said in an interview with TheBlaze. “I just want every student to see what’s going on on campus and realize that they not just have their rights, but can take legal action if they have to if it comes to that.”
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The college administrators state that if a "conservative club" is established, a club for "Democrats" must be created at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThere's a gay and lesbian club. Why isn't there a club for straight heterosexual students?
There's a Christian club. Where is the mandatory atheists' club?
They allowed a "National Organization of Women" club. So why wasn't a "National Organization of Men" club required?
Oh wait...maybe that's the gay and lesbian club.
Hypocrites.