Hobart and William Smith College: Recognizing Conservative Group Would ‘Stress’ Students

Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York, refused to recognize a conservative student group on the basis that it would “cause stress to the student body.”

According to a report by the College Fix, student government leaders at Hobart and William Smith College rejected a proposal to establish a conservative student organization on campus. The reason for the rejection? Student government leaders and faculty advisors were concerned that the group could “cause stress to the student body.”

Students Hannah Sailer and Jenny Yuodsnukis set out to create an organization so that conservative students would have a place to discuss their ideas. They decided that they would submit a proposal to set up a chapter of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute on their campus.

Sailer and Yuodsnukis claim that student government leaders asked them a series of hostile questions. “They asked ‘How can you make sure that [your club] is not going to promote racist rhetoric around campus?’ and ‘Would you be interested, if your club was approved, in doing diversity and inclusion courses to make sure [your club] is knowledgeable about diversity and inclusion,’” Sailer recalled.

The meeting with student government leaders erupted into a debate about topics like immigration and abortion. Eventually, Sailer attempted to regain control of the meeting by establishing that there are many types of conservatives. At one point Sailer was challenged about reading books that advocate ideas such as women working in the home.

“There’s a broad spectrum of conservatives, just like liberals and independents. Not all conservatives, liberals, or independents think alike. And I tried explaining this to them when [the audience] asked me how I could support [reading the book]. I said, ‘Well, I’m a woman, I’m in college to get a job and to support myself after college, so obviously I don’t necessarily agree with [the book], but at the end of the day I still identify as a conservative,’” Sailer said during the meeting.

Despite their efforts, the student government rejected the proposal to establish the group. The students arranged a meeting with the student activities advisor. During the meeting, he asked the students to “pinpoint where ISI would not be racist and would not cause stress to the student body.”

This isn’t the first time that an American college has refused to recognize a conservative student group. Breitbart News reported in May 2019 that the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs that a Christian student group had successfully the college over their refusal to recognize the group on the basis that they only wanted to select Christian students as leaders.