CPAC Campus Victories

At a February Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) presentation, leaders of the conservative movement detailed victories in free speech, campus accountability, and taxation. They urged students and conservatives to stand up for their principles and remain united.

Central Michigan University (CMU) student, Dennis Lennox, told the audience that he objected to Gary Peters’ decision to simultaneously campaign for Congress while teaching at CMU. “That may not seem like a big deal, but unfortunately Mr. Peters is contractually obligated to give his full-time, primary commitment to CMU,” he said. Lennox is the campaign Manager for Students Against Gary Peters.

According to the Peters Report, Professor Peters’ contract stipulates that “If you have made, or currently intend to make, any commitments to engage in other services or obligations for any other CMU department, including ProfEd, or for a college or university other than CMU, during the time you are employed to teach in the department of PSC at CMU, you must inform your department chairperson and dean prior to signing this appointment letter.” The Peters Report states that the contract was issued March 20, 2007. Peters announced his candidacy for Michigan’s 9th Congressional District on August 8, 2007—but the media was hinting at a run before Peters even left his position as lottery commissioner.

Lennox recently spoke to three Michigan state senators from the State Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education about this controversy during a public hearing. According to Midland Daily News writer Nick Persons, “The subcommittee meeting was not planned around Lennox’s proposal; it was scheduled to give University President Michael Rao an opportunity to lobby for state appropriations.”

Lennox told the CPAC audience that he had faced persecution for his campaign at CMU. However, University officials argue that Lennox had repeatedly broken school policies against distributing fliers near school buildings.

The American Civil Liberties Union publicly objected to the CMU’s reactive ban of on-campus videotaping as a violation of students’ rights. “While some may find Mr. Lennox’s method of videotaping and posting recordings on the Internet objectionable, it is a protected means of engaging in political expression,” said Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan Legal Director in a November 2007 press release. He continued, “Even Gary Peters has recognized that the university cannot constitutionally prevent a student from videotaping a political candidate in public areas of the campus.” Lennox said at CPAC that “the ACLU stepped in and actually decided to stand up for a conservative in the country instead of taking them down.”

Other university students recounted their victories over unfair campus policies. Sarah Mikolajczak, Chair of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College Republicans, was required to bring in UW police for a speaking event by Students for Academic Freedom (SAF) founder, David Horowitz. According to Mikolajczak, UW-Madison intended to charge the club for $1,300 in security-related expenses. “So I talked to the student press, I talked to the conservative media, and raised quite a bit of commotion…[the Chancellor] called a meeting with me and said if you stop talking with the media, I’ll pay your debt.” said Mikolajczak.

Orit Sklar, coplaintiff with Ruth Malhotra in a lawsuit to repeal Georgia Tech’s speech code, criticized college administrators for having “ completely turned around the actual purpose of what these institutions are for.” Now, she added, their focus “is on producing social justice activists.” “This is not what our tuition dollars should be financing; It’s certainly not what our taxpayer dollars should be used for,” Sklar said. The 2006 suit, designed to repeal university policies which limited free speech, was condemned by the Los Angeles Times and other media through articles with inflammatory, misleading titles such as “Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies” and “Insults Allowed at Georgia Tech.”

Budding conservative activist and Coulter-acolyte Toni Woods said that “Teachers don’t really appreciate overly zealous students who are in the political process and frankly kids my age really don’t care.” But her message was one of hope. “Because it doesn’t matter how old you are or where you live, you can make a difference,” said the 17-year-old Halifax High School student.

The common message of the panel was that conservative victories are possible as long as people stick to their principles and retain their integrity. Dan Lipian, a student at Bowling Green State University, said “And I want to encourage the young people in the group that want to make more of a difference in the country to get out there and start fighting.” “Reagan said we needed five things we believed in and you stick with them. That’s what we all need to do: stick with what we believe in, don’t give in, don’t start jumping the bandwagon…stick with what you believe in. Be a man of integrity—and women of integrity—in character and… people will follow you,” he added.

Bethany Stotts is a Staff Writer at Accuracy in Academia.