The Campus Conservative

(The rainbow flag waving in the wind at San Francisco's Castro District. // Photo by Benson Kua via Flickr) Dr. Kirk Calhoun, president of The University of Texas at Tyler, spoke about the university’s new diversity, equity and inclusion commitments, along with his approach to LGBTQ+ representation, in a meeting with student government on March 29. The president of the new UT-Tyler took questions from representatives in the officially recognized forum for student opinion during its weekly meeting. Among the possible topics for the representatives’ questions, Members asked more about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy than any other topic.   Sadly, my takeaway from this conversation is that UT-Tyler, if it wasn’t already, is now fully “woke” thanks to the advent of Dr. Calhoun’s administration. The university’s new DEI policy will mean future challenges to free speech, an increase in racial tension among students as individuals become more race-conscious, a dilution of...

The author is an opinion journalist and cannot guarantee objectivity in his reporting. Please read critically!  Landry Smith has won the race for student body president, according to The Student Government Association (SGA) at UT-Tyler who announced the results Thursday. Smith routed opponent Adan Govea with 555 votes to 172 votes. The election turnout was 737 students, above average in comparison to past spring elections. “With great gratitude and humility, I am happy to announce that I will be your Student Government President for 2022-2023!” Smith wrote on his Instagram page Thursday. “I want to say thank you to everyone who voted in the SGA elections and helped me throughout this whole process. I couldn’t have done it without y’all’s (sic) constant support and encouragement and I am eternally grateful for you all,” he wrote. The Candidates The current SGA Vice-President, Smith ran on what he called breaking barriers between student groups, fostering a new legacy of tradition a...

"Broke!" by CafeCredit.com. (Source: Flickr) On February 15, UT-Tyler President Kirk Calhoun told student government, in response to a student’s question, that student government can help the university attain its new strategic goals by making UT-Tyler “feel more like a traditional college campus.”  “We want to move in that direction,” he said. According to President Calhoun, “that means getting students excited about athletics, joining clubs, being involved, getting other students involved in student government,” and so on.  Presently, over 60 percent of UT-Tyler’s student body lives off-campus. Yet, with talk like this and infrastructural plans for new student housing and athletic facilities that they have, it appears leaders aim to transform the commuter university into a residential university.  However, while the amenities of a traditional experience sound great—and there is certainly merit to the traditional college experience—it is hard for a close observer to over...

VP for Strategic Planning and Chief of Staff Stephanie Fenter address SGA. (Source: SGA YouTube) *The author is an opinion journalist and cannot guarantee objectivity in his reporting. Please read critically!  On February 15, Vice President for Strategic Planning Stephanie Fenter told student government that the Strategic Planning Committee is on its way to completing its work on UT-Tyler's new strategic plan and that she welcomes student participation. “I want to welcome you all to give us feedback," she said. "We welcome your involvement. We need it in order for this to work."  Top Five Strategic Priorities According to VP Fenter, the planning committee has identified five top priorities based on a university-wide survey it sent back in July 2021. It also relied upon recommendations from workgroups it formed to process the survey results.    According to VP Fenter, the proposed priorities for the university are 1) to enrich the student experience, 2) enhance the qu...

Proofs of concept for UT-Tyler Athletics' new logo. These are not final drafts. (Source: SGA YouTube Page) *The author is an opinion journalist and cannot guarantee objectivity in his reporting. Please read critically. UT-Tyler presented design concepts for a new athletics logo at student government’s meeting Tuesday. VP of Marketing and Communications Jeffrey Noblitt, along with Athletics Director Howard Patterson and Design Director Karen Schmidt of Edleman, a New York-based marketing firm, presented The Student Government Association (SGA) with over twelve black and white concepts of what a new athletics logo could look like.   The leaders said they intend to obtain input from university stakeholders in the coming weeks and have already shared these images with faculty senate executive committee. Eventually they will share the refined versions with the student body at large for feedback at later date.  As Soon As Summer Nevertheless, students could begin to see change...