New conservative group forms on campus
Leaders want to focus on shared ideals instead of party affiliation.
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
It’s not the easiest gig at a university considered one of the most liberal in the Midwest. Still, last Thursday, members of Young Conservatives of KU stood a hundred yards east of Wescoe Beach, trying to interest passers-by in joining their ranks. Young men handed out American flag lapel ribbons and urged people to remember the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Jack Hutsey, Wichita junior, officially founded the Young Conservatives of the University of Kansas on Sept. 4, a week before the group’s first public outreach effort.
Photo by Ryan McGeeney
Jack Hutsey, Wichita junior, is a founding member and president of the Young Conservatives of the University of Kansas, a student political club that seeks to attract participants with its ideology, instead of party affiliation. The group is modeled after the charter of the Young Conservatives of Texas, which has chapters at more than seven universities throughout the state of Texas.
“Right now, the conservative voice is just a whisper on campus,” Hutsey said. “We just want the liberals to know that we’re going to raise our voice. They can have demonstrations and rallies, and so can we. It’ll take time, obviously, but we’ll have small successes and just build on those.”
Hutsey said the Young Conservatives differed from groups like the College Republicans because party affiliation mattered less than shared ideals.
“I think a lot of people feel intimidated by political parties,” Hutsey said. “We’re trying to reach out to everyone. There are sleeper cells of conservatives on campus. They’re out there — you just don’t know where they are.”
Jesse Vaughn, president of KU College Republicans, said he welcomed another conservative outlet at the University, even if it didn’t necessarily share an allegiance with the Republican Party.
“It’s not a bad thing for us,” Vaughn said. “I don’t think you have to choose between one group or the other. It’s definitely a good thing.”
Hutsey said that the charter of the Young Conservatives at KU was based on the Young Conservatives of Texas, which has chapters at seven universities in Texas. Hutsey’s “statement of principles” that were handed out Thursday is identical to that of the YCT and includes points common to many conservative declarations, including the importance of individual, economic and political freedoms, and the maintenance of a strong military.
David White, state chairman of the YCT, said that while he was unaware of Hutsey’s actions to emulate his organization, he was delighted to see like-minded individuals establishing a foothold at the University.
“We’re humbled and think it’s wonderful that other groups are following our model,” White said.
White said that college students at campuses as far away as New Zealand had sought the YCT’s help to establish conservative groups.
Conservatives aren’t necessarily the only ones happy to see more political involvement by students on campus. Colleen VanBuskirk, co-president of KU Delta Force, a progressive political coalition, said she looked forward to the Young Conservatives making themselves heard.
“As far as I’m concerned, everyone’s welcome,” VanBuskirk said. “We’d love to work with them if there’s something we can agree on, which I’m sure there is.”
— Edited by Lauren Keith
Discussion
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I hope the conservatives pat themselves on the back for the excellent work they've done to our economy. Maybe they can bring back the gay-bashing in time for the November elections. Do they hold meetings in the men's room at the airport?
Nah, they're too busy trying to hype intelligent design while trying to fire the librarian for not censoring books that they personally think are offensive...
Oh wait, that's Sarah Palin.
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/
"I can see Russia from my house!"
linguo and shorty: i'm sure hutsey and co. are so persuaded by your viewpoints that they're ashamed to be conservative. your last guy got a BJ in the oval office from a young intern. you think it's bad some people have moral values?
I think Towelie from South Park argues it best: YOU'RE A TOWEL!
I just love how people who hated Clinton always bring up the BJ and yet they never point out that W went to war with Iraq for no legitimate reason other than to search for POSSIBLE WMD's. Or that he was on vacation and stayed on vacation (for another couple of days) when Katrina hit. Haliburton. And the $600 stimulus check? What a joke.
Let's not also forget Reaganomics, or Watergate. Clinton wasn't perfect, neither was JFK or Roosevelt but the same can be said for Nixon, Reagan, and W. "The kettle calling the pot 'black'..."
I'm not here to persuade anybody's point of view, I'm just stating my discontent in our current time of politics and people now voting for "the lesser of 2 evils..."
Linguo, I thought you only flamed on columnists. Now you're flaming on homophobes and senators. When are you going to address an article's subject matter?
When is there going to be a Libertarian group on campus? they make more sense than the gay bashing conservatives, or the communist liberals. What about a group for common sense viewpoints? A group where people can talk about how evolution is a great scientific theory, and also about how great our free market economy is?
Brandon_Minster - commenting on the conservative movement here is commenting on the article's subject matter.
I like how although this is an article about a new conservative group on campus that didn't mention a single specific issue or one politician's name, for some reason the liberals can't wait to have a collective conniption. I mean, TWO different conservative groups on campus? What is this campus coming to? The first few comments on this article just reassure me that my opinion of most liberals is fairly correct. Do they raise their kids so that the first words they learn growing up are "Bush lied?"
There are a lot of conservative issues that have nothing to do with politics. It is the liberals' mistake that they immediately associate the two.
There really aren't enough conservatives in Kansas, I can understand how they might feel like a minority.
mrs2b said: "...and the squinty-eyed guy ..."
Now you're referring to someone with the username ShortyAsian24 as "the squinty-eyed guy"? Are you a racist as well as a homophobe?
Brandon, you forgot to mention my flaming xtians, too.
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