YAF’s Campus Bias Tip Line Exposes Free Speech Violations

By Kara Zupkus, Spokeswoman

At a time when free speech is increasingly under attack at America’s colleges and schools, Young America’s Foundation is supporting students by holding administrators and faculty members accountable through the Campus Bias Tip Line. Relaunched in 2019, the Tip Line serves as a resource for any student facing leftist bias, discrimination, or infringement of their free speech rights on campus. Through this unique project, YAF has uncovered and published more than 100 stories of egregious bias at America’s educational institutions, providing a voice to students who would otherwise go unheard and forcing reforms at dozens of schools. YAF saw a record number of reports submitted to the Tip Line in 2020. To submit a tip, a student simply visits YAF.org/tips and completes a brief form that requests a summary of the incident in question. YAF’s team combs through hundreds of such tips—ranging from biased questions on graded assignments to video footage of student government meetings—and determines which incidents merit further investigation. Once a tip is determined to warrant further investigation, YAF’s staff schedules a call with the student to verify the documentation provided. The Foundation then determines whether the story is best pursued through a public relations campaign, legal action, or another avenue. A YAF staff member is often the first face or voice students interact with while navigating these challenging campus situations. One of the first points YAF’s team reiterates when advising students is that they are not alone and YAF is here to help them stand up for their rights. Each Tip Line report published on YAF’s New Guard blog reaches millions of the Foundation’s followers. The stories are also frequently covered by national and international outlets, including the Daily Mail, Fox News, CNN, New York Post, Daily Wire, and more. The following pages feature a selection of Campus Bias Tip Line success stories from 2020.

YAF’s Campus Bias Tip Line serves as a resource for any student facing leftist bias, discrimination, or infringement of their free speech rights on campus.

1) Iowa State University

In the fall of 2020, a concerned student taking an English course at Iowa State University (ISU) sounded the alarm about a “warning” listed on her syllabus. Written by Professor Chloe Clark, the syllabus stated:

“GIANT WARNING: any instances of othering that you participate in intentionally (racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, sorophobia, transphobia, classism, mocking of mental health issues, body shaming, etc.) in class are grounds for dismissal from the classroom. The same goes for any papers/projects: you cannot choose any topic that takes at its base that one side doesn’t deserve the same basic human rights as you do (i.e.: no arguments against gay marriage, abortion, Black Lives Matter, etc.). I take this seriously.”

YAF’s staff immediately investigated the incident, writing and publishing a breaking story on the Foundation’s New Guard blog that was picked up by numerous media outlets. The ISU administration was put on the defensive, and the university announced that the English course syllabus was “inconsistent” with its free speech policies. Clark was required to change her unconstitutional syllabus and was given free speech training materials to ensure she followed the university’s First Amendment policies. Additionally, following this and other similar incidents at Iowa’s taxpayer-funded universities that were exposed by YAF, the Iowa Board of Regents unanimously approved a set of free speech policies for the state’s public universities. Some new measures include required annual free speech training for all students, staff, and faculty; a ban on the use of university funds for partisan activities; and a review of the university’s free speech statement at the beginning of each academic course.

2) University of Kentucky

Astudent at the University of Kentucky (UK) tipped off YAF about segregated dormitory resident assistant (RA) trainings that were held as part of the university’s mandatory student orientation. RAs were forced into two groups–one including those “who identify as Black, Indigenous, Person of Color” and the other including only white students. The latter group was labeled the “White Accountability Space,” and white students were given a document prior to their training that highlighted 41 “common racist behaviors and attitudes of white people.” When YAF contacted the UK administration for comment, the university attempted to sweep the incident under the rug and failed to offer any explanation for the training. After YAF’s story was published and drew

widespread media coverage, the university quickly backtracked. Senators Tom Cotton and Kelly Loeffl er urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate this potential civil rights violation at UK. After the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would be opening an investigation into the matter, UK admitted that the segregated training exposed by YAF “should not have happened” and noted that “it will not in the future…we have made clear our expectations moving forward.” “A community that values diversity and inclusivity is something to which we all aspire. And that means in our

training having programs where everyone feels a sense of belonging, too. We fell short in meeting that expectation and value here,” the university stated. YAF is continuing to investigate the RA training—not only at UK, but also at several colleges around the country that have hosted similar programs—through Freedom of Information Act requests.

3) Vanderbilt University

YAF learned through the Campus Bias Tip Line that an introductory political science course at Vanderbilt University posed a simple quiz question to its more than 800 students: “Was the Constitution designed to perpetuate white supremacy and protect the institution of slavery?” One student, who dared to mark the question “false,” was penalized for doing so, as the quiz indicated that the correct answer was “true.” YAF quickly verifi ed and published the story, which drew coverage from Fox News, the Washington Examiner, Yahoo News, and other news outlets. Facing heavy public backlash, Vanderbilt attempted to walk back the quiz’s claim, arguing that “no student was rewarded or penalized for their answer” and that “the question was posed to stimulate discussion”—despite the quiz clearly indicating that the student who submitted this tip received “0/1 point” on the question. Following YAF’s reporting, the question was removed from Vanderbilt students’ online learning database.

4) University of Northern Iowa

The tyrannical student government at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) attempted to subvert the U.S. Constitution––until YAF and the university’s president stepped in. Through the Campus Bias Tip Line, YAF obtained footage from UNI’s student government meeting where representatives voted to deny offi cial recognition to a Students for Life chapter on campus, with one senator labeling the club a “hate group” and others arguing that the organization used “clear militant language” to advocate for the unborn. The denial of recognition for a pro-life group at a public university was blatantly unconstitutional,

and YAF immediately brought this to the attention of UNI administrators. Shortly thereafter, the university announced that it “will not uphold a decision that violates the First Amendment and university policy,” noting that it was “concerned” by recent student government actions. UNI’s president, Mark Nook, overruled the student government’s decision and granted full recognition to the Students for Life chapter.

5) Illinois Central College

Troy Daugherty, a history professor at Illinois Central College (ICC), found himself at the center of two controversies. First, he threatened to fail a student who wrote about President Donald Trump in a positive light. Then, Daugherty plagiarized an anti-America rant from The Newsroom, an HBO show, as uncovered in a class recording obtained by YAF. In the latter incident, Daugherty spent 15 minutes of course time asserting that President Ronald Reagan “waged

wars” on the poor and claiming that America is systemically racist, repeating word-for-word a scene featuring Jeff Daniels from the fi rst episode of The Newsroom. After YAF’s report, Daugherty was removed from his teaching position in the course, and ICC noted that it takes academic integrity claims “seriously” and was “actively investigating” the matter.

6) University of Florida

The anthropology department at the University of Florida (UF) hosted a segregated town hall for its students—inviting only students who identifi ed as black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and barring white students. An email obtained exclusively by the Campus Bias Tip Line informed anthropology students:

“We kindly remind all that you respond to this space [sic] is only for those who identify as a BIPOC individuals in this department. While we appreciate white students may want to join to learn more about the BIPOC perspective, we ask they respect this space as a chance for BIPOC students to come together as BIPOC… We cannot hide our skin color…we ask white students to respect that this is a space where BIPOC students can come together without the need to perform any emotional or mental labor to explain their experiences…”

The town hall was aimed at guiding the “future directions” of BIPOC students in the anthropology department. YAF’s breaking story received wide-ranging coverage from national news outlets, and UF stated that the event was “inconsistent with the university’s policies and values,” noting it was “reviewing the circumstances surrounding the event and will take appropriate action.”

7) College of Lake County

Adisgruntled club advisor at the College of Lake County (CLC) in Illinois plastered campus with false posters claiming the Young Americans for Freedom chapter was a hate group. YAF immediately publicized the incident, drawing local and national media attention. As a result of this reporting, CLC’s administration hosted free speech training for all faculty members and club advisors just days after the incident. YAF obtained a copy of the presentation given by the CLC legal team. “Avoid treating protected speech as actionable misconduct,” one presentation slide stated, adding, “Expressions of hateful or offensive views do not constitute unlawful harassment, even if they offend listeners.” The presentation also encouraged club advisors to “assist students in navigating free speech issues, especially speech that may be controversial.”