Students at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG) launched a petition to “abolish” the college’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom after the conservative group posted a quote by The Daily Wire’s editor emeritus Ben Shapiro on social media.
“Men cannot become women. Women cannot become men. Men who believe they are women are not real women,” the quote says.
View this post on Instagram
The post’s replies filled with negative comments attacking Shapiro and the group, calling for action by the university. UNCG’s Department of Women and Gender Studies account commented on the post saying that the YAF chapter is not a recognized group on campus.
“After checking with the Dean of Students office, they are not a campus recognized organization,” the department’s social media account said, according to The New Guard, a publication by YAF’s parent organization Young America’s Foundation. The New Guard reported that the Dean of Student’s office denied ever speaking with anyone about YAF.
One student began a campaign to get the YAF chapter banned from campus. According to a screenshot obtained by The New Guard, a student sent out a message advertising a petition against YAF.
“Hello y’all! This is totally out of the blue but I discovered there is a group on campus known as the Young American Foundation [sic] that promotes bigoted conservative ideology!!! I am meeting with an advisor asap to try and put a petition into action to get them disbanded so if you would like to be on this petition please let me know! Thank you so much everyone, lets [sic] strive to make UNCG the safe place it promotes itself to be!” the message said.
The Student Government Association’s (SGA) group chat also lit up with student representatives suggesting that an effort should be made to crack down on the UNCG YAF chapter.
“If everyone’s okay with it, I can definitely reach out to our advisors on behalf of SGA and express concern about the organization’s noncompliance with the anti-discrimination clause and see what steps we are able to take from there!” one message in the chat said. “That way we’re taking action without adding fuel to their social media dumpster fire.”
A UNCG spokeswoman reaffirmed the university’s support for free speech and referred to its university policies in a statement to The Daily Wire.
“At UNCG, equity, diversity, and inclusion are more than words, they are the bedrock of who we are and what we do. We value the differences and contributions of all Spartans, and we strive to create a community where all members feel supported, affirmed, and welcome,” the statement said. “We seek to provide all who live, learn, and work here the opportunity to become active participants in an intellectually vibrant community that celebrates a broad range of ideas and perspectives. We support free speech and social discourse and have an expectation that all will do so with civility and respect for others. We believe there is no better place than a college campus for thought-provoking discussions. As a public university, we cannot regulate free expression on the basis of content, whether we agree or disagree.”
Shapiro has a long history of riling up progressives on college campuses. In November, progressives at Florida State University began attacking Shapiro and The Daily Wire over a planned speech on campus. As The Daily Wire reported:
Ahead of Shapiro’s speech, FSU’s branch of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a socialist college group, released a statement condemning Shapiro as “violently racist, homophobic, transphobic, and xenophobic.” The statement did not cite any examples to support its claims. SDS is also aiding another campus progressive group, Students for Justice in Palestine, plan a protest for the day Shapiro is scheduled to speak.
SDS called Shapiro as well as The Daily Wire “far-right” despite the conservative commentator being the top target of antisemitism on Twitter among journalists in 2016, according to the Anti-Defamation League. SDS also took issue with Shapiro’s stance against Critical Race Theory, which is rooted in Marxism and suggests that most U.S. institutions today are rooted in racism, being taught in schools.
SDS concluded its statement calling on FSU President Richard McCullough to cancel the event to prove the university’s commitment to “equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
This post has been updated with a statement from UNCG.