OPINION: Campus Conservatives Should Aim To Reform University Policy

 

 (Source: Flickr)

Campus conservatives should focus on reforming university policy while they are students as the most effective course of action for their campus advocacy.

In the years I have watched student government at UT-Tyler, I have seen how powerfully individual student voices can influence administrators. Administrators are there to listen to students as stakeholders. How well or poorly decision-makers respond to student concerns is an important part of these administrators’ performance review by their superiors. Students have tremendous advocacy power to shape political (policy) outcomes within higher education when they advocate for positive change.

Unfortunately, few conservative students seem to realize this truth. Instead, most often it has been the Left who has triumphantly marched through higher education.

However, the good news is that conservative students can do this, too. Conservatives can participate in campus community just like anyone else. They can make powerful contributions to the collegiate environment that ensure our shared public university stays healthy in its structure and mission.

Therefore, to be most effective in their effort to realize an ordered liberty in society, campus conservatives should focus on reforming university policy towards this end. 

Strategic Advantages

One of the best aspects of reforming policy as a strategy for conservative gains is how long the fruits of labor lasts after graduation.

For example, consider the Progressive gains that have occurred over the last 10 years at UT-Tyler. The introduction of gender-neutral bathrooms, The Tobacco-Free Campus policy, the free tampons in all bathrooms policy all arrived years ago by Progressive student activists. (In years 2015, 2016, and 2018 respectively.) However, these advocates’ influence lives on to today as these policies are still active at UT-Tyler. That is, they still shape culture, they still influence student opinion, and they still remain part of the university’s approach to students. 

There is no reason why conservative policies cannot do the same. However, most campus conservatives focus only on the here-and-now. They focus only on persuading the students around them about conservative values such as capitalism and small government, or they join a student club, or they don’t do anything; they just focus on school or work.

These efforts' effects at the university expire once these students graduate. No matter how persuasive they are at convincing their peers, the shelf life of this kind of activism is only as long as these students remain at the university. For after all, right behind them is a whole class of students who have never heard of them and probably never will. In the meantime, Progressive policies remain entrenched in the university year-after-year. 

Shared Governance

Campus conservatives have a real opportunity here to use the mechanisms of student representation within the university to advocate for healthy changes to policy. The university is a culture-shaping institution and the more conservatives can make positive changes to see that it remains healthy, the more positive results we will see together in our own communities and in society at large. Therefore, they should. 

How To Do It

Here is the way conservative students can do this: first, pick a topic of one's passion and learn it inside and out. Then examine how well the university lives up to this value.

For example, say a student’s passion is free speech. In this case, he should study everything he can about free expression, from protections in The First Amendment and state constitution to the social utility of speech over violence. Then he should examine how well his school's policy respects his position on free speech. If he finds overly broad language in the school handbook, for instance, that could restrict or chill a students’ speech, then he can propose edits to the language and so protect free speech. 

The point is for the campus conservative to try to find a place where he can make a concrete change. He should aim for a tangible improvement to the university policy. He will have to learn to make a persuasive argument and perhaps improve his writing, but all the while he will become a more effective advocate for a free society and a healthy institution.

The list of possible causes one could serve are as broad as the conservative interest, from pro-life to capitalism, to support for military veterans, or to reducing students’ fees and tuition. Whatever one’s passion is, it most likely has an application to a college campus.

So if campus conservatives want to realize a vision of “ordered liberty”, then they ought to focus on making reforms that contribute to this vision within the university community.

Mechanisms for Change

Now, there are at least three mechanisms students can use to advocate for their passions on-campus: the student government association, a standing university committee, and a university administrator.

Student Government

Student government (or SGA) is by far the most powerful lobby group on campus since the board of regents (or board of trustees) recognizes it as the official forum for student opinion. This means that the board and its subordinates, the university administration, will listen to this association more than any other student organization on campus.

This group operates like a senate and can pass resolutions with official association positions on university policy, such as statements in support or opposition as well as other commentary. It is a powerful tool for getting the administration to enact your policy. So if you can, join student government and resolve to use this forum to push your policy proposal through with your peers’ support.

University Committees

Another mechanism for shaping university policy is a university committee. Gaining appointment to an advisory committee, such as a student fee committee or a university center advisory committee, can give you a powerful platform from which to shape policy with respect to the area it oversees. Student fee committees are the most powerful because they can affect funding for student service. So perhaps your overly-biased Progressive student newspaper could use some conservative’s oversight! ! To gain appointment, approach the committee chair or usually the student body president.

Direct Advocacy

Lastly, some changes can occur simply by speaking with an administrator. For example, both the addition of gender-neutral bathrooms and distribution of free tampons at UT-Tyler occurred due to students directly advocating with the facilities administrator.

Student government, university and student fee committees and direct advocacy with an administrator are three main mechanisms for advocating for your preferred policy position.

Conclusion 

Overall, a change to school policy lasts longer and often reaches farther than the alternatives of tabling and political interest clubs. For once the student graduates, their policy change will likely still be there and their reforms can make for a better social institution. 

So, if a conservative student wishes to be most effective, then he should focus on making positive reforms to university policy. This the most helpful way a conservative student can put society back on track during his time at university. 

Twitter: @Jhescock12

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Feature Image: Via Flickr. (Source unknown!)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Edited for minor copy corrections and grammar on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 at 11:31 p.m.