October 28, 2009
Contact: Dustin Matocha, Chairman, 512-304-5163, dustin_matocha@mail.utexas.edu
For Immediate Release
Austin, TX – The Young Conservatives of Texas will host a Freedom of Speech Event featuring the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) President Greg Lukianoff on Tuesday, November 3rd to show the general public how speech codes and censorship are failing to teach students how to live in a free society. Starting at 7pm in UTC 2.112A on the UT Campus, Lukianoff will explain this "Unlearning Liberty" and its effects of student voice oppression on campuses throughout the United States.
“We’re thrilled to have Mr. Lukianoff come to campus to eduate the student body about their 1st Amendment rights.” Says Dustin Matocha, chairman of the YCT group at UT. “FIRE was one of the first organizations to assist us when the UT Administration tried to prevent us from passing out fliers on a public sidewalk in near the Diversity Program put on for incoming freshmen during summer orientation.”
Back in June, several members of the conservative group passed out fliers to incoming freshman as they were entering the Diversity Program that they were required to attend during summer orientation. During the program, freshman listened to several “students” stand up in the middle of the audience to announce what racial, sexual, religious, or other group they belonged to and why diversity was important. The Young Conservatives of Texas used their fliers to promote their group and teach freshman that one can simply view people as individuals instead of separating them into distinct racial or religious classes.
It’s incidents like this that causes the FIRE to give the University of Texas at Austin a “Red Light” rating for their protection of free speech. A “Red Light” from FIRE indicates that the University has imposed clear and substantial restrictions on free speech. “We hope that Mr. Lukianoff’s presence on campus will inspire the student body to fight for their 1st Amendment rights,” says Matocha. “Maybe then we’ll have free speech for all students on campus.”
The Young Conservatives of Texas is a non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to promoting conservative values throughout the great State of Texas. The organization has chapters on campuses throughout the state, and it also produces the oldest and most prestigious ratings of the Texas legislators’ voting records.