The Campus Conservative

(Source: James Hescock)  *Editor's Note: This article was updated at 2:50 p.m. on 4/25/18 to include statement from the University and new blog commentary at the bottom in response.  The University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler) has cancelled full ride scholarship offers to over a dozen incoming international students, according to multiple reports from prospective students affected by the decision. In  an email  on April 13, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management Sarah Bowdin told each affected student the University had decided to cancel previously extended offers to its full ride Presidential Fellow scholarship because more applicants applied to the program than the University had expected. The email stated, “As a candidate for the Presidential Fellows scholarship program, we want to inform you that due to extraordinary demand for this year's Fellows program, our scholarship requests exceeded the amount budgeted for this year." “We initia...

(Source: Flickr) This week, UT Tyler students will have an opportunity to vote on a measure substantially increase the mandatory Intercollegiate Athletics Fee. According to the ballot, the proposal will increase the maximum allowable amount the University can charge a student by 33 percent, from $180 per semester to $240, and phase this in over the next two years. For a student with 15 credit hours, that’s an approximately $120 annual increase. This is something every student should have a fair opportunity to vote on.  However, it seems an athletics victory is more likely now thanks to multiple failures by the Student Government Association (SGA). SGA portrays the Athletics Fee in a positive light on the ballot which may persuade voters to support it and the proposed increase. It reads:   Do you support the increase of the UT Tyler athletic fee? The proposed fee would increase by $2 per semester credit hour (from $12 to $14) next year and another $2 per semester ...

Source: kelly bell photography via Flickr On April 12, I wrote about how The Student Government Appropriations Committee's (SGAC's) denial of the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) UT Tyler chapter's funding request demonstrates how students' First Amendment rights need more protection. Here's a copy of the email I sent to Student Government Association (SGA) Treasurer Jacob Mcleod on April 13 about what I believe are infringements of three student organizations' First Amendment protections by SGAC when it denied groups' funding requests based on their activities' perceived benefit to the student body. I'll keep the blog updated with this story! If you believe in free expression without punishment, please email Treasurer Mcleod and ask him to make the three reforms to SGAC Guidelines I mention at the bottom of my email. His email is JMcLeod at uttyler dot edu or call his office at 903.565.5648.  -- Dear Treasurer M...

(Source: Flickr) Recently, I was looking over the minutes of the committee that distributes funds to requesting student organizations for various activities, the Student Government Appropriations Committee (SGAC). For the most part, SGAC has done a good job approving requests from whichever organization without regard to the organization’s expressed viewpoint. It has distributed hundreds of dollars to multiple religious and political student organizations, something the committee has not always done until recently. However, one instance in 2017 should give First Amendment advocates cause for concern. On Nov. 2, 2017, SGAC denied a request from the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM’s) UT Tyler chapter for $73.29 on the basis that the committee determined the chapter's event would not be sufficiently beneficial to the student body. The committee wrote in its minutes: This request was denied because SGAC felt it didn’t have the benefit the entire student bo...

Source: City of Toronto via Flickr University of Texas at Tyler Police arrested two individuals this fall on charges of public lewdness, according to a police report obtained by The Campus Conservative Blog. According to the report , on Nov. 29 at approximately 11:57 p.m. UT Tyler police responded to the campus library about a complaint of public lewdness. Police arrested Camden Lepley, 20, and Vanessa Morgan, 21, on probable cause after investigation and after detaining them in Room #313. The two were booked into Smith County Jail on $1,000 bonds apiece. According to KLTV , these individuals were not students and were issued criminal trespass warnings. (In other words, “Don’t come back.”) Charge vs. Guilt It’s important to recognize that a charge of public lewdness is not the same as a confession or admission of guilt. However, probable cause means the investigating officer examined the evidence available and determined an act of public lewdness had occurred. Wh...