Conservative and Jewish college students testified before Congress on Wednesday on how their point of view has been silenced and how they ...
Conservative and Jewish college students testified before Congress on Wednesday on how their point of view has been silenced and how they have been threatened on campuses across the country.
The hearing — which took place before the House Judiciary Committee — focused on free speech and anti-Semitism and featured current and former college students, including members of the conservative group Young Americans for Freedom (YAF). As conservative and Jewish students attempted to tell lawmakers of the harassment they’ve faced at universities, a group of anti-Israel activists interrupted the hearing on multiple occasions before they were escorted out of the room.
One conservative witness, Jasmyn Jordan, a University of Iowa student and the chairwoman of the Iowa YAF chapter, said that freedom of speech is not equal for conservatives and liberals on college campuses.
“The first time I noticed this was when Iowa YAF hosted Kellyanne Conway as a speaker. In response, I was doxxed in a group chat of over 800 students and was falsely labeled as a Nazi, a token, a white supremacist, and a bigot,” said Jordan, who is black. “Some individuals even expressed that I made them uncomfortable and feared that I might commit a hate crime against them simply because I’m Black and hold conservative principles. These students believe that if you are conservative, you are hateful, support oppression, and only want to benefit straight White men even though such beliefs are untrue.”
Jordan added that on one occasion her group invited Daily Wire host Matt Walsh to speak on campus, but “students and faculty were willing to do anything to cancel the event just because they found Walsh’s speech to be offensive.” When Walsh arrived on campus for the speech, Jordan said one student spilled thousands of marbles on the floor to keep people from attending the event, attendees were spat on, and a band played loud music outside of Walsh’s speech attempting to drown him out.
“Despite repeatedly meeting with the university administration, the rules are continually permitted to be broken by Left-leaning students,” Jordan said. “They are in fact coddled by our school. The university expresses affirmations and puts together support, solidarity, and celebration spaces.”
Another witness, Connor Ogrydziak, testified about the threats and harassment his YAF chapter faced from radical leftists when they hosted Daily Wire host Michael Knowles for an event. Just weeks after Knowles appeared at the University of Buffalo, the college’s student senate voted to amend its rules and no longer recognize the YAF chapter at Buffalo as a student organization.
“Regardless of what side of the political aisle you reside on, it should be common ground that no student deserves to be threatened, mistreated or silenced on campus due to their personal beliefs,” said Connor Ogrydziak who recently graduated from the university. “Conservative students currently face a relentless uphill battle for representation on campus.”
Ogrydziak also told the Judiciary Committee that YAF members were chased across campus and one board member was physically attacked after the group hosted former Republican Congressman Lt. Col. Allen West.
“With silence from the university and charges not pressed by the Erie County District Attorney’s office, I’ve since been left to consider the precedent this sets for those who plan to protest future events on campus,” Ogrydziak said. “… If those were who were involved in this mob were able to result to fear tactics and violence without consequence, what is keeping a pattern of this despicable behavior from being set and executed repeatedly?”
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