The University of Rochester College Republicans have been making their voices heard in the past couple of weeks, protesting weekly to unequivocally condemn the Trump Administration’s deportation and imprisonment of student activists for their criticism of American and Israeli military policy.
“College Republicans around the country have spent the better part of a decade professing their absolute commitment to free speech, so why would we be silent now?” said the president of the club. He continued, “If self-censorship of conservative opinions in academia is a big deal, it follows that official, violent institutional suppression of speech should have all of us out in the streets!”
One young Republican put it simply: “I believe that we must hold all speech equally. These activists have as much right to criticize the American government as I have to criticize transgender children, even if I think their speech is harming innocent people.”
Although members of the club have largely denied any affinity for the opinions expressed by students and activists stuffed into cars by masked individuals and sent to unknown locations, they stressed their principles and commitment to resistance against authoritarianism. One member of the organization said, “If we didn’t speak out now, we’d really look like a bunch of hypocrites and opportunists, which of course, we aren’t.”
The College Republicans will be holding their next protest Friday April 7, replacing their previously scheduled event, “Racial discrimination as economic freedom: a discussion.”
