Campus Reform: Troy University

NOTE: This is an op-ed written by Eric Philllips a student activist at Auburn University.  It was originally published on oanow.com.

Did you know the Auburn administration limits demonstrations, speeches and debates to a 20-foot-wide free speech zone on our 1,843 acre campus? Did you know it is a violation of campus rules to display posters in your dorm room windows?

I began to explore these alarming facts late last year when I was ordered to remove a Ron Paul sign from my window because it violated a safety rule. I was told if I left the banner, I risked expulsion from housing and losing my "good standing."

This is selective censorship from bureaucrats hostile to my views. Other banners, stickers and flags, are routinely tolerated in windows and on the side of campus buildings.

On the eve of election season, Auburn University has taken a cowardly stance against free speech on campus.

If the university thinks that the literature you are handing out on campus affects students in a negative way, then they will make an attempt censor your freedom of speech.

Alabama passed a new law that was stated by Campus Progress to be the "nation's harshest state immigration law."   The law will go into place September 1st of this year.

The new law places restrictions on illegal immigrants by combining policies that have been used in many other states.  Police officers can stop those whom they suspect to be an illegal immigrant.  Public schools must check students and parents for their immigration status.  

The law restricts illegal immigrants from access to public benefits, renting homes, enrollment in public colleges or universities, and applying for, or, soliciting work.  Alabama Republicans feel the law will create new jobs for Americans.

Universities usually fight state budget cuts by increasing the tuition instead of making cuts in departments.  This increase makes it harder for students to pay for college and prevents certain students from attending college.

Eric J. Barron, the president of Florida State University, announced that the university will be cutting 1.1 billion dollars from the tentative budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal years.  This announcement came after the Board of Trustees meeting on June 2nd.

Liberals at Auburn University have found a new way to brainwash students. Athletic tutor training at Auburn is now code for diversity training.

Nik Markopoulos signed up for training so he could tutor Auburn athletes. Instead, Nik found himself caught in a diversity seminar.

Markopoulos, an assistant copy editor at Auburn's student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, wrote an article about his experience at the diversity seminar.

According to the article, Greg, the presenter, told the class to write their names at the center of a bubble chart. He also asked them to write words that described their identity in bubbles around their name.  Greg’s examples were “Christian,” “white,” “Northern” and “psychologist.” Greg then told the students to their traits to disprove stereotypes.

To help us tutors come up with examples, Greg prompted the question, “I am a _____, but I am not a _____.”The group was hesitant to speak, so Greg came to our aid.“I am a Christian,” he said, “but I am not a right-wing extremist nutbag.”

Greg went on to explain the advantages of “white privilege”, which included “avoiding spending time with people I have been trained to mistrust.”

On March 5, fifteen students at the University of Alabama were trained by the Leadership Institute's Student Publications Department.  The group was mostly based out of the school's Young Americans for Liberty chapter and their paper is called The Right Wing.  

The group also has a presence on the internet called the True Liberty Blog.

Now not everyone here reading is going to have the same joyous and congenial experience I had during my undergraduate days. Having traveled to numerous campuses across the western states of the nation, I can say that comparing Auburn to Cal-Berkeley, Colorado-Boulder, the University of Washington or the University of Utah is a difficult task.

After all, the prevailing thought at the institutions named above (and more than likely your school) is leftist.

Being a conservative at many other institutions means you are in some cases a thought criminal, marginalized for your beliefs that run counter to the dominate and near-monolithic ideology on your campus.

When faced with such a dilemma, how does a conservative student operate on a liberal campus? Easy:  Run for student government (or as it is known in the western states, the Associated Students).

Located in Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University is one of the largest universities in the state. In the 2009-2010 school year, Auburn enrolled 24,137 students of which 20,302 were undergraduates. First chartered as an all-male school in 1852, it became the state's first co-educational university in 1892. Today Auburn is a comprehensive land, space, and sea grant research institution that also prides itself on its athletics.

Campus Life

Liberal students can join the College Democrats.

Conservative students can choose among six conservative campus groups: Youth for Western Civilization, Young Americans for Libery, Auburn Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, Auburn Students for Life, the College Republicans, and Students for Free Markets.

The italicized groups -- all of the conservative groups but the College Republicans -- are affiliated with CampusReform.org's Campus Leadership Program, which provides students with advice, assistance, and support.

These groups are very active on campus during the school year. For example, the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) marked tax day in April by tabling at the East Alabama Patriots Tax Day and then erecting a massive display of our national debt on campus.