Over the last month several people from across the state have taken to the papers their opposition to the cuts proposed by the legislature. They have had a particular animus towards the cuts aimed at the proposed University of Wyoming (UW) block grant. Legislators, and rightly so, said the cuts are aimed and rooting out what is left of DEI and other practices that are happening at UW. Critics claim that there is no DEI and that the present environment is entirely conducive to what Wyoming’s founders and the Morrill Act intended our land grant university to be.
As President of Turning Point USA at UW, I question those assertions. If those assertions were true, organizations like mine would not be getting bigger and more influential at UW, especially after DEI was defunded by the legislature. Routinely, students join my TPUSA chapter and contact me about the experiences they have with professors and fellow students. It is normal, especially from fellow students, to be entirely socially ostracized for simply being white, conservative, and/or Christian.
Just last year, I was told by a professor that I should be “conscious” of my participation in class because my “white” voice drowns out the voice of others. I am not sure that is in line with what the Wyoming Founders said:
“The objects of the university are to provide an efficient means of imparting to men and women, without regard to color, on equal terms, a liberal education, together with a thorough knowledge of the various branches connected with the scientific, industrial and professional pursuits.”
One of my professors canceled class the day I hosted Charlie Kirk on campus last April because she was in fear for her life that he was going to be on campus. Why would she say such a reckless thing? Is this not a perfect example of behaviors that stoke fear and hatred towards conservatives and Christians for no reason? These are normal experiences for students on campus.
There is not enough paper in the world for me to tell you all the things I have seen and heard from students.
Members of my organization routinely get called Nazi, fascist, bigot, and everything else under the sun just for supporting conservative and Christian viewpoints. People are free to call us those things, but at a university where discourse is central to its mission, what does that say about the culture on campus?
This last semester after the assassination of my hero and mentor Charlie Kirk, students were emboldened by it to the extent that my friends and I received more threats against our lives and property last semester than the four years I have been with TPUSA on campus.
The legislature is not cutting the block grant for no reason. Anyone with a sober mind can tell that there is something wrong at UW and that is exactly why the legislature is applying pressure. UW has made great steps in recent years by adopting free speech protections and getting rid of parts of DEI.
However, the environment that currently exists that is openly hostile towards conservatives, Christians, and white people shows that something is still wrong that the university must address.
Wyomingites ought to be able to be proud of their university and should not be afraid to send their children to college for fear they will experience what I have. The legislature and UW must continue to work together to promote a culture of free speech and free inquiry along with a culture of respect where all students are welcome regardless of race, religion, political persuasion, and sex. We must figure out the root problem for the sake of our posterity.