Campus Reform: Texas A&M University

On January 20, the Memorial Student Center's (MSC) Carter G. Woodson Black Awareness Committee (WBAC) at Texas A&M University hosted radical leftist Angela Davis for its 4th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast. More disturbing than the fact that students hosted her is the fact that the event was funded by mandatory student fees and various faculty and administrative departments across campus.

For those who don't know who Angela Davis is, here are a few biographical points to keep in mind:

• Communist professor at the University of California’s Santa Cruz campus
• Recipient of the Lenin “Peace Prize” from the police state of East Germany in 1979
• Provided an arsenal of weapons to Black Panthers who used them to kill a Marin County judge in a failed attempt to free Davis' imprisoned lover, Black Panther murderer George Jackson
• Icon of the campus Left and frequent guest speaker at anti-war rallies
• Leader of a movement to free all criminals who are minorities claiming that they are political prisoners of the racist United States

The Angela Davis speaking event at A&M was held at one of the nicest places on campus, the Former Students Association building, and was promoted by the university's online calendar and thus on the homepage listing of campus events. It was also covered favorably as a feature story by the campus newspaper the Battalion.

The most shocking part of this story comes from the budget information I obtained through an Open Records Request:

EXPENSES

• Speaker Fees (all inclusive of speaker fee, travel, and lodging): 16,500.00
• Venue and setup: 2,225.00
• Advertising and Reproduction Costs: 499.00
• Rental Car: 112.00
• Dinner with Speaker: 586.64
• Food/setup: 7,158.40

SUB-TOTAL 27,081.04

The following is where the money came from to pay for the event:

• MSC Woodson Black Awareness Committee: 13,408.04 (mandatory student fees)
• Office of the President: 2,000
• Department of Athletics: 1,000
• Division of Research and Graduate Studies:  1,000
• Texas A&M University Libraries: 1,000
• Office of the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity: 1,000
• Department of Multicultural Services - Division of Student Affairs: 1,000
• Glasscock Center for Humanities Research: 750
• Memorial Student Center: 600 (mandatory student fees)
• Department of Residence Life: 500
• The Bush School Of Government And Public Service: 500
• Offices of the Dean of Student Life: 500
• Department of Student Activities: 500
• Department of Performance Studies:  250
• Department of History: 100

When confronted by student senator Justin Pulliam, MSC President Collin Laden praised Angela Davis as a "civil rights activist who worked alongside Martin Luther King," denied that MSC programming had to be viewpoint neutral, and denied that WBAC is funded by student fees.

Watch the video of this exchange by clicking here (start video at 1:19:10).

Angela Davis didn't work "alongside" MLK; she was supporting violence when he was condemning it and promoting nonviolent protest.

Also, during my time at A&M, I was present and involved in the executive council meetings where WBAC programming was approved. Unless things have changed since my time at A&M, WBAC is still funded almost entirely by mandatory student fees. (In fact, the ratio of student services fee money used to student participants for a program was a key piece of information in determining whether a WBAC program was approved or not.)

And thus under constitutional law, these fees must be used in a viewpoint-neutral manner, regardless of the overall budget makeup of the MSC.

Does your university funnel mandatory student fees to left-wing organizations on campus? Contact your Regional Field Coordinator and learn more about how you can fight back by clicking here!