Underfunded Conservative Student Groups Cry Foul as U. Florida Pays TikTok Star $60K for Campus Appearance
“Young America’s Foundation (YAF) claims that the UF College Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom chapters were denied funding from the student government.”
Some social media star comes to campus, and they pay him $60,000? Who knew you can make that kind of cash?
Campus Reform reports:
University pays TikTok star $60K, conservative groups cry bias
The University of Florida (UF) paid TikTok personality Josh Richards $60,000 for an on-campus event. They refused, however, refused allocate [sic] funding to conservative groups, The New Guard reported.
The funding was allocated from Student Activity and Service Fees. Young America’s Foundation (YAF) claims that the UF College Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom chapters were denied funding from the student government.
Most UF student organizations received $500 dollars for the Summer B and Fall semesters, according to the Student Organization Base Funding report. Additional funding is provided through the operational budget and the travel budget.
YAF received $179.38 in travel funds. Young Democratic Socialists of America received $1,600 from the travel budget, and $1,710 from the operational budget.
UF YAF chairman Caitlyn McCoy, who is also a Campus Reform correspondent, told Campus Reform that the chapter is disappointed about the disbursement of funds from the Student Government and hopes the situation will be resolved soon.
“If UF is denying student organizations funding based on political ideology, not only does this go against their Freedom of Expression Statement but also the First Amendment of the Constitution,” she said.
A statement released on Instagram by UF College Republicans stated that “regardless of your political or ideological affiliation, student organizations represent a vital entity of culture and community to the students of UF which is being actively ignored by our government that claims to represent the voices of students.”
The Gainesville campus’ Freedom of Expression Statement states that to achieve their goal of “independent inquiry and vigorous academic deliberation, UF will not stifle the dissemination of any idea, even if some members of our community find it wrong-headed, offensive or hateful.”
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Comments
Forget it, Jake, it’s UF.
Silly Christians, expecting bleacher seats in the Coliseum, instead of the exciting ground-floor action their hosts had planned.
Might Gov. DeSantis have a say in this?
A delicate situation, since it’s not the administration playing favorites, but the student government.
Student government has always been a joke. It’s “Let’s Pretend” but with some power.
There’s a simple solution to this – make student fees optional. Then those students who want to fund unrepresentative student government can, and those who don’t want to fund its politics can refrain from doing so.
The power brokers can never do that. No one will pay if they are optional. The demands will continue, but the revenue will cease. That’s the immature college student way.
henrybowman, You are precisely correct. The problem with “student government” is the same as with “real” government – the people with the time and motivation to get involved are the people who worship government. All the rest are busy doing useful things.
UF is a very good school (especially in engineering). There are some fools there (both students and faculty), but certainly fewer than in the Ivy League.
The UF Board of Trustees has a say.
I expect no better from my alma mater to the west.
What bothers me more than anything is that “TikTok Star” is even allowed to be a thing because of the sad state of entertainment and social value in this country.
You don’t have to enroll at this college.
You don’t have to send your children to this place.
C’mon, people — think!
When people show you who they are, or who they’ve become … believe them.
Does anyone else get the feeling at this point that ……. basically they’re just sorta laughing at us?