Campus Reform: Texas A&M University

Since 2001, Texas has allowed illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition at Texas A&M and other state universities.  HB 1403 was passed in 2001, and it made Texas the first state to give in-state tuition to illegal aliens. 

Instead of cutting taxes or fixing roads, Texas forked out the money to subsidize 12,138 illegal students this school year.  This costs Texans millions each year. 

To address this problem, I -- along with over 40 other Aggies -- introduced a bill to the Student Senate to end the practice of giving automatic in-state tuition to illegal aliens. 

The purpose of subsidizing state education is to produce a more educated workforce for the state.  However, illegal aliens cannot legally work in the United States, so it does not make sense to subsidize the education of someone who cannot work after college!

It's not right that illegal aliens receive in-state tuition while legal U.S. citizens living out of state are paying $15,000 more each year to attend Texas A&M.  In fact, this practice violates a federal law that prohibits giving a higher education benefit to an illegal alien unless that benefit is also given to any American citizen.  Giving in-state tuition to illegal aliens rewards breaking the law -- why come here legally when you would have to pay more?

Last week, the Students for Concealed Carry chapters at Texas A&M University and Blinn College did an Empty Holster Protest.  They recieved earned media attention from local news outslets; see coverage here, here, and here.

In addition to the protest, students hosted John Lott on the A&M campus to speak about the actual statistics and research that has been done on the effects of concealed carry laws.

"I really wanted to debate someone here, so they could tell me why they think banning handguns is a good idea, even though they can't show anywhere it works," said Lott. He continued:

I cannot find a single case where a country or city has banned firearms and the murder rate hasn't gone up.  I can't find a single one. I have been studying this issue for a long time. Every mass public shooting since 1979 with more than three dead has been in a so-called "guns free zone" where firearms are prohibited.... There is not a single peer-reviewed study that shows that concealed carry increases crime.  Not a single one!

The Texas A&M Student Senate passed an oppressive "anti-discrimination" bill last night. Ironically, a couple of student senators were discriminated against during the process.

The bill passed advocating for the following additions to the University Statement on Harassment and Discrimination: ethnicity, citizenship, pregnancy, sex, gender, parental status, marital status, military, political preference or activity. During the debate process many senators brought up amendments to this bill. Although some amendments were heard, amendments by Senators Justin Pulliam and me, both of us conservatives, were not considered by the floor and were censored by the Speaker of the Senate, Michele Breaux. This type of dictatorship shown by the Speaker does not advocate for the voices of students; rather, it restricts it.

Last night, the Student Senate at Texas A&M considered three bills that would authorize a delegation, funded by students fees, to lobby for federal legislation regarding textbooks, federal student loans, college affordability, and other higher education federal programs.

Thanks to the efforts of several conservative student senators, many of them trained by CampusReform.org's Leadership Institute, the lobby bills were defeated. Kudos to Scott Bowen, Justin Pulliam, Chris Russo, Jess Fields, and Steven Crumpley.

Unfortunately, the appropriations bill for over $1300 in student fee money for the trip to D.C. was approved. However, the bill was not available to the senators or the public for viewing before the meeting. It was passed without most of the senators even reading it!

Regardless of the content of the legislation, how could it possibly be ethical to use student fees to lobby for any legislation at any level of government?

Editor's Note: The Texas Aggie Conservatives at Texas A&M celebrated Reagan's 99th birthday this weekend. Click here to learn how your group can commemorate a conservative's birthday on campus. It will help you attract campus attention and introduce students to conservative leaders. (Not to forget that you'll definitely enjoy doing it!)

The Texas Aggie Conservatives spent the day before President Reagan's 99th Birthday handing out fliers, giving away cake, passing out Reagan pins, and celebrating the life of an amazing conservative.  Hundreds of students came by the event in the historic Academic Plaza at Texas A&M University.

The fliers informed students of the increased living standards, economic growth, job creation and charitable donations during President Reagan's time in office. Students got a kick out of the event and enjoyed the free sugar boost on a grey Friday afternoon.

Check out sneak peek photos from Justin Pulliam, campus reformer and president of the Texas A&M Young Conservatives of Texas, who is at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) this week. While most students are braving finals, Justin is in Copenhagen, Denmark to participate in the conference -- proving that committed activism has big rewards!

Justin's trip is organized through the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). CFACT, a partner organization of CampusReform.org, was founded to "promote a positive voice on environment and development issues." The CFACT contingent just arrived, but they promised "big things" are on the horizon, and they will keep us informed.

Justin just sent us these photos from Denmark, so we're sharing them with you first. You can see scenes from around the conference at the end of the post.

Keep checking CampusReform.org for news on what campus reformers are doing in Copenhagen. And if you're stuck stateside, you can take action against climate change dogma on your campus today.

From the New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/us/politics/16texas.html

By MICHAEL BRICK