The Campus Conservative

(Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph) As I have perused through social media, I have seen many Progressive students at UT-Tyler tweet statements in support of the Black community. They say, “Black Lives Matter” and “support Black businesses” and “amplify Black voices.” Anything Black goes, because Progressives are collectivists. They don’t see John and Terrance, but White and Black. In the collectivist mindset, group identity is more significant than individual identity. So when it comes to race, it is not business owners, but Black business owners that they want to support. It is not voices, but Black voices. They claim solidarity with a Black collective and aim to elevate a group. Anyone who is Black is a member of this group. So, if being Black gives one membership to a group and if group membership means you deserve support—solely on the basis of being Black—then where is their support for their African-American University President Michael Tidwell? Why doesn’t h...

(Source: Flickr) In Patriot Talon’s December 9 issue, Opinion Editor David Young called on UT-Tyler administration to establish a free speech zone that would confine all campus speech activity to one campus location. Young claimed the university’s commitment to free speech placed students at risk of injury due to how others would use free speech. Young cited traveling preacher Jesse Morrell of Open Air Outreach and stated that a speaker like him, under administration’s current commitment to free speech, could subject students to controversial viewpoints that run against their personal beliefs and Young floated the idea that an off-campus speaker could even follow a student around campus and harass them in the name of free speech. Lastly, among his critiques for the administration, Young claimed that UT-Tyler officials left the campus without rules for this chaotic environment and that the solution was to establish a designated zone for all on-campus speech. Young wrote, “in...

Okay so, I just listened to Dr. Tidwell’s presentation to student government (SGA) about a spring graduation in the plaza. After hearing the plans and seeing accommodations administrators have made towards student concerns, it seems to me that much of the hysteria surrounding a plaza graduation has been way overblown. Here are a couple of reasons why I think so, along with some highlights from tonight’s meeting. Melting In the Sun Let’s take an easy example for starters: the concern about the temperature outdoors. Many of the 3,500 plus commentators on the petition that went around on social media in opposition to a plaza graduation stated they were going to melt in the Texas sun if the University held an outdoor graduation at the start of the Texas summer. However, as UT-Tyler’s Vice President of Marketing Lucas Roebuck pointed out during the meeting, (this wasn't his first point, but my pointing it out first) according to historical record, the average temperature on May 2 ...

No. 2 pencils (Source: Mitty via Flickr) You might not realize it, but the pencil is a free market wonder. Little did you know that while you were writing your midterm essay with pencil in your hand that you were holding a market wonder, a force for world peace and a product of human cooperation. That’s right. The power and forces of the free market system brought people together to produce your pencil. "The pencil is a force for world peace and a product of human cooperation in the market system." And what kind of forces were they that brought it to you? Were they coercive forces of a socialist government where bureaucrats threaten producers to produce or else face government police power? No, it was cooperative forces under the free market. Individuals from all of the world came together to make your pencil and they did it voluntarily. Someone somewhere produced the rubber that made your eraser. Someone produced the wood and the lead that makes up its stem. ...

"Euless Trinity's Mack Beggs, top, wrestles Lewisville's Elyse Nelson during the 6A Region II wrestling meet at Allen High School in Allen, Texas, Beggs, a senior from Euless Trinity High School near Dallas is transgender and in the process of transitioning from female to male. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP)" - The Washington Times It doesn't take long in one's research about Feminism to discover the gender neutrality movement. Its adherents hold that it is arbitrary and oppressive to gender someone or to make gender an issue in decision-making. These believe that gender is a social construct and carries with it gender-specific roles that oppress the individual, particularly women. In response to this, they push for gender neutrality in government policies, families and businesses for example, and the movement's proponents claim when gender neutrality advances, then women win. Yet, in many ways, the gender neutrality movement is a tre...

Last week, I submitted interview questions to each of the three candidates for student body president at UT-Tyler. I asked them some basic questions about why they are running and then their positions on some general issues in higher education I thought others might find interesting, such as their their position on Campus Carry legislation, banning controversial speakers from campus and abortion. My effort was to give the reader a feel for each candidate's values and priorities. I posted my interview with Blake Hendricks last week  here . This week, I am thankful to receive Joshua Menhennett's responses. Here is my interview with student body president candidate Josh Menhennett.  His responses have been edited for readability and flow. INTERVIEW WITH STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT CANDIDATE JOSHUA MENHENNETT 1. Why are you running for student body president? I believe there are improvements that can be made to significant aspects of the student experience at t...

Blake Hendricks, Candidate for Student Body President at UT-Tyler (Source: Twitter) There are three candidates running in this Spring's student body president election: Blake Hendricks, Jacob McLeod and Joshua Menhennett. To get to know these candidates and their campaigns better, I submitted 11 questions to each individual on Wednesday, February 6 with the request that they respond by noon on Friday, February 8. I asked them some basic questions about why they are running and then their positions on some general issues in higher education I thought others might find interesting, such as their their position on Campus Carry legislation, banning controversial speakers from campus and abortion. My effort was to give the reader a feel for each candidate's values and priorities. At the time of this publication, only Blake Hendricks responded, although each candidate said they are happy to participate in the interview. Treasurer Jacob McLeod is in Austin Friday and Sa...