Conservative Activist Groups on Black Hills College Campuses
A comment from a young woman heading off to college in the fall wanted to know about how to start a student Republican group at either Black Hills State University or at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. She claimed that neither campus already had such a group, then asked if a sympathetic faculty member might be contacted.
No, don’t contact such a faculty member at this time. They have a lot less actual political power than students themselves do. And don’t look for some authority figure to make things happen. It’s easy to do it yourself.
The old adage “Assume nothing, check everything” applies here. A quick check of the SDSMT website revealed an existing “College Republicans” organization already in place, complete with contact information and other details. This does not mean that the group is active or serious, though it might well be.
Other listed organizations at SDSMT include advocacy based on race, especially for Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. With no requirement for “colorblindness” or “separation of state and skin color,” then a legal precedence is being advanced, surely unwittingly.
At BHSU, the website had the rules, but no specifics about existing student groups. The online handbook details a 13-item “University Policies for Student Organizations,” which any conservative group can comfortably organize around: a quarter of the members can be non-students from the community, officers must be BHSU students, but there must be only “5 members to begin and maintain a student organization.”
One item at BHSU gets at a what could be construed a political or liberal can of worms: “Student organizations will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, or status due to receipt of public assistance.”
All hinges on the word “discriminate,” so a “white” identification and orientation is nondiscriminatory so long as it follows the model of race-identified groups at SDSMT. Members of all races will be accepted for membership, however unlikely. A race can be talked about in positive terms only, with no implication that another race is somehow them problems.
“Veteran status” doesn’t include mention of dishonorable discharge, nor does Jerry Sandusky’s predilections for young boys count under “sexual orientation,” though other Big Government rules might have qualifiers, at the point. Of course, all the PTSD mental cases among veterans, cooks and clerks included, might qualify for “disability” consideration, since the motivation among many PTSD seems to the monthly disability check that is directly deposited into their personal checking accounts.
The online dictionary definition of “activism” focuses on “the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change.” Much needed among conservative students caught in stranglehold of liberal orthodoxy at most universities.
But do your homework first. It’s just a matter of going online to see what’s what. Activisim is usually little more that a social opportunity for students to get together and kindred spirits. Same as in high school. You meet, find compatible friends, feel part of a larger conservative movement.
Yes, a modicum of online research will let you know about many conservative national organizations who will help you. You can also connect with other conservative organizations across America. Students just like you. You can copy any successful group, activity, fundraiser, or tactic that you find on any other campus. Better yet, the can be part of a daily email network.
