Students For Academic Freedom

Southwest Missouri State U. Bans Conservative Group from Activities Fair · 01 October 2003

by Ryan Cooper

I am the president of a conservative group, SMS Young Americans for Freedom.

We published the first issue of our independent newspaper, the Bear Review, and sought to distribute it to students at the New Student Festival on August 24th of this year. Because we were not a recognized student group, we were not granted a table. Fortunately, another campus group of which I belong granted me permission to use their table since they had no plans for it.

A few minutes after the event started, the Director of Student Activities, Jill Drake, stormed over to our table and demanded that we leave the building in ten minutes. While we were packed up, students interested in YAF continued to grab materials from the table. When Jill Drake returned, she immediately grabbed a flyer out a student's hand and yelled, "You can't have this!"

She escorted myself and four other students outside and told us that we had to distribute our newspaper at an off campus street corner two blocks away from the event!

I was shocked at her ridiculous and unreasonable demand to have us in a location where there was no students present. Ms. Drake then allowed us to move to a closer location known as the "Bear Paw," a raised platform where students hold outdoor events.

It was still a block away from the event, and only a few students traveling back to their dorms crossed our path. We ran into members of the Chi Alpha Christian group who had been relegated to the Bear Paw as well for distributing tickets to their evening barbeque. They decided to move closer to the door. We followed their lead.

As we got closer to the door, Jill Drake rushed out of the Student Union building screaming at us. She even threatened to have campus security arrest us!

Ironically, another faculty member named Christa Coffey asked us why we were outside instead of inside with all the other student groups. She insisted that we come inside and use an empty table, the same table we had been forced to evacuate!

Christa inquired inside as to our fate. She informed us that we had been placed in the campus free speech zone, which blew me away. I had read and heard from others about these awful oppressive zones, but never imagined that my own campus would have one!

After the event, I asked Sheila Tipling, the Student Activities secretary, who had complained about our group. At first she said it was a student, then a student who looked like a faculty member, and finally she admitted that a faculty member complained about our group being in the new student festival. Sheila refused to give us the name of our accuser.

Two days later, I visited Ms. Drake and Ms. Tipling. They informed me that members of my group were not allowed to even distribute the paper on campus without first registering a campus table.

I tried to register a table for every school day of the week. Unfortunately, the conference services scheduler, Mary Kennedy, insisted on enforcing a rule that, in her own words, was "seldom used." We were only allowed three table dates. Since we had already received permission to hold meetings on campus, we were only granted TWO table dates.

Our group also sought to sponsor a 9-11 Memorial service. The campus administrators had purposely not planned a thing to remember that terrible date in American history. I soon discovered that even the free speech zone is off-limits!

These same campus administrators refused to let me use the free speech area because I had already used my three reservation dates. I was told that YAF would have to wait until we became a recognized group before we could reserve anything else on campus.

Fortunately, a more senior administrator allowed us the use of the free speech area, possibly fearing a backlash from the strong conservative Christian groups in town. Over 150 students battled the rain that night to attend a memorial and candlelight vigil.

During our event, an anti-war group did a sidewalk chalking critical of Pres. Bush and the war on terror. It was covered in the really biased liberal town newspaper, which buried our event in a single paragraph.

In response, we did a sidewalk chalking of our own, asking the socialist anti-war group why they didn't chalk body outlines for the 3000 Americans who died on Sept. 11th. We also chalked a message to the News-Leader, demanding that they cover our events.

The next morning, I receive a phone call form an administrator, upset that we had violated the chalk policy. I was told that we would only receive a warning for our campus crime. We were told that only recognized groups are allowed to chalk. The message must only promote an event. No chalking under an awning. I asked why the Students United for International Peace was allowed to chalk an anti-war message, but we weren't allowed to chalk a response. I was told that they would "look into it, but that we should not use it as an excuse to break the rules."

I am so fed up with their free speech zone and discrimination against the only conservative student group on campus. It's not free speech if you can only do it in the closet. This is not an issue of left vs. right, it's an issue of right vs. wrong.
-Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a student at Southwestern Missouri State University and the president of SMS Young Americans for Freedom. He can be reached at smsyaf@hotmail.com

Contact Southwest Missouri State University President John Keiser at President@smsu.edu

Contact Vice President for Student Affairs Don Aripoli at StudentAffairs@smsu.edu

—