by John Plecnik
September 9, 2004
North Carolina is blessed with some of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning. Duke is the South’s most elite university. The University of North Carolina system rivals its counterparts in California and Virginia. Belmont abbey remains the only Catholic college between the beltway and Florida.
Sadly, a liberal network of socialist scholars and retired Democrats dominates america’s highest ivory towers. North Carolina is living proof. a majority of our administrators take the term ‘liberal arts’ literally. Ridiculous classes on sexuality and privilege are proffered. Professors create a culture of intolerance that stifles conservative thought. President Bush is demonized and Republican groups are patronized. Gay groups are eulogized, while ardent Christians are ostracized.
Fortunately, liberal bias has failed to convert the next generation of conservative leadership. The Duke Students for Bush shocked the world by donning "W" (Bush) T-shirts during Blue Devil basketball. UNC students famously protested reading the works of socialism and radical Islam. Belmont abbey produced a 28-year-old Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004.
College Republican heroes abound. Michael McKnight founded Committee for a Better Carolina at UNC, protesting the simplistic socialist tract, "Nickel and Dimed." Upon graduation, McKnight accepted the political directorship with State Sen. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) in her campaign for U.S. congress. Foxx was victorious in her primary for a safe, Republican seat.
Michael Pomarico, state chairman of the North Carolina Federation of College Republicans, has organized ‘flip-flop’ protests to dog Senators John Kerry and John Edwards whenever they deign to campaign in the Tar Heel state.
Last fall, Dennis Dotson of Belmont abbey College ran for mayor of his hometown; campaigning on a platform of fiscal responsibility. Expending virtually no financial resources, the young contender took 21% of the vote in a 3-way free-for-all. Presently, Dotson is working to revive the abbey College Republicans.
Most importantly, College Republican chapters are growing all over the state. Lenoir-Rhyne College had its group chartered earlier this year. Existing groups at Duke and UNC already have hundreds of members, and recruitment is only improving.
Happily, College Republicans are not fighting alone. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) has repeatedly come to the defense of UNC conservatives. When a Christian student was lambasted for his beliefs, Jones took it up with the university chancellor. Now that alpha Iota Omega Christian Fraternity has been denied official recognition, the Catholic congressman has returned. Jones is a shining example of how politicians ought to represent their constituency…and UNC is not even in his district. The resident congressman (D-N.C.), Professor David Price of Duke University, is the ‘poster child’ of liberal academia. after authoring a few books on the legislative branch, he felt qualified to write the law. It is bad enough to have your GPa at the mercy of Leftist ideologues…but can we afford their meddling in social security, the internal revenue code, and national defense?
Rachel Lea Hunter, conservative candidate for North Carolina Supreme Court, has also come to the aid of campus conservatives. Her campaign has pledged to enforce the U.S. Constitution on college campuses. Notably, Hunter worked with former congressional candidate "Whit" Whitfield in arranging the first "College abuse Conference for Free Speech." During the conference, conservative students and scholars from across the country met to discuss liberal bias on campus. I would encourage all of Hunter’s opponents to adopt her college abuse platform.
The Pope Center for Higher Education will be hosting a similar academic conference this fall. The Pope Center recently separated from the John Locke Foundation, North Carolina’s preeminent conservative think tank.
Working together, incumbent Republicans, conservative candidates, Right-leaning think tanks, and determined students are beginning to pierce the veil. Though liberal bias is running rampant on campus, the public is increasingly aware of the abuse. Millions of concerned parents and alumni have been exposed to the truth: Liberal bias exists. Liberal bias is discrimination. Liberal bias must stop!
John T. Plecnik is a 20-year-old law student at Duke University and Executive Editor of The Devil’s advocate. as Policy advisor for the Duke Chapter, John authored the first-ever statewide platform for the North Carolina Federation of College Republicans.
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