This is from the “but you already knew that” or at least assumed it, list.
BREAKING — from Campus Reform, Why so few conservative student clubs? Faculty are unwilling to sponsor them.
Conservative students across the country are facing difficulty when they attempt to start a right-leaning student organization on campus due to a lack of faculty members willing to serve as the advisor.Most universities require prospective student organizations to obtain a faculty advisor before the school will consider recognizing the organization as an official on-campus club.Texas A&M University, for example, requires every “recognized” student organization to have a faculty or staff advisor.Campus Reform spoke to TAMU senior Cristina Bills who hoped to start a Young Women for America chapter on campus but was unsuccessful because she was unable to find a willing faculty member to serve as the club’s advisor.“As conservative women we wanted to start a Young Women for America chapter here on campus at Texas A&M. To be affiliated with campus, we needed a campus advisor to be over our organization. Sadly, we could not find a professor or faculty member that wanted to be affiliated with us,” Bills said.Bills admitted that she and her fellow officers searched for a faculty member for nearly six months before deciding to end the search and host the club’s meetings off-campus instead.
It’s a national phenomenon:
University of Arkansas junior Nate Harris also told Campus Reform that it is “difficult” to find conservative faculty and staff on campus.“It seems that there are only a few conservative professors present on the campus,” Harris said.Even if a prospective club’s founders find a conservative-leaning professor, there are still obstacles to overcome, according to Pummill.“Unfortunately, the rare conservative professor cannot take on another club because they are already the faculty advisor for too many other clubs,” she said.Harris echoed this when he told Campus Reform that “vocal conservative” faculty members are “typically advising multiple groups and have little time for new conservative groups.”Providing a hypothesis for why this is the case, Harris revealed that there is an “effort to drive out the conservative faculty members.” …The American Council of Trustees and Alumni echoed Pummill’s sentiment in a statement to Campus Reform.“Unfortunately, on most campuses, conservative faculty and administrators are on the verge of extinction,” the statement read. “While one’s political beliefs should never be the basis for hiring decisions, institutions must address when students do not have equal access to educational opportunities.”
At Cornell, I end up being the faculty advisor to many, if not most, if not almost all right-of-center student groups. While sign up season is not over, it looks like this academic year I’ll be the faculty advisor to the Cornell Republicans, Cornellians for Life, Cornell Review, Cornell Chapter of the Network of Enlightened Women, and the Cornell Independent Freedom Caucus.
I’d like to think they choose me because I’m so special. But the reality is that there is no one else to whom they can turn. Whatever the reason, it’s one of my most cherished roles on campus, and I have met many great students in that capacity.
Does this make me “the most important Social Justice Warrior in Ithaca”?
[Featured Image: 2017 Cornell Faculty Take-A-Knee Protest]
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