Colleges Urged to Sign ‘Contract for Safe Campus Dialogue’

A conservative student organization is sending letters to the leaders of every college and university in the country, calling on them to sign a free-speech contract pledging to protect right-leaning students on their campuses.  

Young America’s Foundation, a conservative nonprofit led by Republican former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, announced Wednesday it is asking college officials to pledge to protect all students and their right to free speech, regardless of political ideology.

The free-speech contract—dubbed a Contract for Safe Campus Dialogue—says leaders in higher education must ensure conservatives are welcome to speak on campus, allocate appropriate security so everyone on campus is safe, and ensure that all school faculty, staff, and administrators support students equally, regardless of their political views. 

“Public colleges and universities have a legal obligation to comport with the First Amendment’s constitutional protections for free speech and association,” Walker wrote. 

The letter comes in the wake of the Sept. 10 assassination of conservative student organizer Charlie Kirk. 

“The politically motivated murder of activist, husband, and father Charlie Kirk should serve as a wake-up call to the higher education community,” Walker wrote. “It is beyond high time that colleges and universities acknowledge that they have a special responsibility to create a safe environment for the free and open exchange of ideas and open inquiry on their campuses,” the letter states. 

Like Kirk’s Turning Point USA, YAF hosts events with high-profile speakers on university campuses year-round, including political figures, such as Ben Shapiro, Isabel Brown, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Kristan Hawkins, Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, and Mike Pompeo.   

Walker said that YAF, which was founded in 1960, is ready to join every other conservative organization working on college campuses to ensure safety, saying it won’t back down from the right to free speech. YAF will “be stronger than ever,” he said, meaning increasing the number of conservative speakers on campuses.  

The letter and contract will be sent to the leader of every higher education institution and every chair of their governing boards.  

YAF comprises student activists from middle school to college. It is present on more than 2,000 campuses across the country. It is committed to values such as individual freedom, strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.