Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”” – and don’t forget conservatives on college campuses. They claim to be among the oppressed who yearn to breathe free.
It’s true – conservatives on campuses across the country feel oppressed.
A recent graduate at Ohio State University told FOXNews.com, “When I was on campus, I had no help. I was harassed, intimidated, shouted down.”
In a Letter to the Editor printed in OSUs The Lantern a student writes, “The Lantern has put a liberal spin on a majority of articles pertaining to this year’s election. In my opinion, The Lantern is another example of how media outlets report with a liberal bias.”
Conservatives on BG’s campus have always been vocal about alleged liberal bias.
Conservatives are more vocal about the supposed injustices committed against them as a result of a “liberal” media, than about issues of abortion, the Iraq war and gun control.
As a liberal, I’m not only concerned, I’m angry about this.
Although Republicans in Washington aren’t earning high marks in the public’s eye, their counterparts in college are picking up the slack.
John Wilson, author of “The Myth of Political Correctness: the Conservative Attack on Higher Education,” said to Fox News, “Conservatives have been very effective in promoting their own victimization.”
Conservatives are effective in taking the lead and launching attacks, requiring liberals to be consistently on the defense. This was the case at the University of Illinois Urbana-Campaign last year.
The Orange and Blue Observer, a conservative journal at Illinois staged an event against gun control which doubled as a fundraiser.
They raffled off an AK-47 assault rifle.
The raffle-winner purchased the gun for $290 from the store and the OBO reimbursed the winner.
Participants bought tickets for $5 and were required to have a Firearms Ownership Identification Document. The group ended up making $405 from the event and the money will go towards funding the publication.
In protest of the raffle students held signs saying “Anthrax Raffle.” One student explained, “Both anthrax and an AK-47 have a lot of power to kill.” Later, Generation Democracy for American raffled off water guns in response. The $100 they raised went to charity.
Regrettably, this series of events is typical on many campuses and liberal groups are forced to respond to the conservative agenda, rather than promote their own.
College Republicans have been more vocal than College Democrats on BG’s campus and it’s disheartening to watch.
The College Republicans’ influence is most evident in the Student Budget Committee’s funding allocations. SBC granted college Republicans $14,550. The College Democrats received $2,312.
Looks like conservatives aren’t as oppressed as they lead us to believe.
A similar divide in conservatives’ favor is evident among interest groups in Washington.
Conservative group, The Heritage Foundation, has conservative recruitment down to a science. According to a NY Times article, this past summer 64 interns were each paid a 10-week stipend of $2,500 and half were housed in a subsidized dorm – which also includes a fitness center.
Where do I sign up?
I’m kidding, but rival organizations have got nothing on The Heritage Foundation’s solid investment in the future.
More centrist group, The Brookings Institution has no paid interns and neither does the Progressive Policy Institute.
If we really want to know who’s in the minority follow the money trail, it shows conservatives aren’t doing as badly as they claim.
Liberals – at least beyond campus – have long recognized they can’t hold a candle to conservatives’ organizational efforts.
Recognition of this problem is the first step, but we’ve already spent too long trying to move beyond the first step.
Show me the money and show me that liberals are truly invested in their own future.
We’re tired of losing and being poor because we aren’t organized, but for some reason we haven’t yet realized our yearning to break free.
Send comments to Erin at [email protected].
