Welcome to the Young Conservatives of Texas. To the prospective member, I hope that you'll do three things. First, look into our organization's principles and decide if you also believe in ideas of smaller government, lower taxes, traditional values, and strong national defense.
Next, get a feel for who we are as a group. Look at our Flickr page and check out the events we've done in the past. You can also follow us on Twitter to get the most up to date news about our chapter. YCT is the most active political organization on the UT Campus. Other groups may have many members, but no other group enjoys the active participation we do. Situated in Texas' most liberal city, UT is not exactly a conservative bastion. However, this pervasion of liberalism makes our mission all the more important. While UT might not be your refuge of conservative principles, YCT can be.
YCT is your ticket to becoming involved in the political process. We participate in grassroots activism by making endorsements, lobbying, blockwalking for conservative candidates, and releasing our highly respected legislative ratings. YCT has released reviews of Texas legislators' voting record since 1975, making our ratings the longest running in the state.
Finally, after you've seen our principles and realized what an impact YCT will have on you, the last step is to become involved. Join us for our meetings and find your niche. Soon you'll be leading the fight against liberalism at UT and across Texas.
Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: University of Texas Campus, WAG 214
This meeting be covering everything that took place during the break, including our newly released legislative rankings and endorsements. We have our first candidate of the semester coming to speak to us. Stephen Shoppe, running for CD-21, will let us know what we can do to help his campaign. We also have confirmed that Mia Garza, campaign director for Lamar Smith, will represent the congressman at our meeting tomorrow. We'll have a "candidate forum" for CD-21.
Also, we will let everyone know how to register for the upcoming YCT state convention and how much it will cost.
And last but not least, there will be a big announcement as far as a speaker for this spring.
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.
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Time: 7:00pm
Location: University of Texas Campus, CBA 4.328
We've got another great meeting planned for Wednesday, October 28th at 7pm in room CBA 4.328. Liz Young, A health care policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation (as well as our State YCT Chairman and former YCT-UT chapter chairman) will give her presentation on the myths and realities surrounding the current health care debate.
But wait, there's more! We also have Randy Samuelson, the Senior Legislative Assistant for Representative Ken Paxton (and a former YCT State and YCT-UT Chairman also) coming to speak to us about the constitutional amendment election on Nov. 3rd. You'll find out everything you need to know to be prepared to vote, including what YCT's position is on the key Propositions like Prop. 4, and where to go to cast your vote.
As far as learning about conservative principles go, this is one of the best chances you'll get. It's going to be an exciting meeting, so come to the meeting on Wednesday and get involved!
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Time: 6:30pm - 7:15pm
Location: University of Texas Campus, CBA 4.328
Our first meeting since our tragic loss of Brianna Becker will be held at a SPECIAL TIME as to not compete with the Torchlight Parade. For this meeting only, we will meet at 6:30pm on Wednesday, October 14th in our usual room, CBA 4.328.
This meeting is going to be short and fast-paced because of our time constraints this week. We'll start the meeting with a presentation of a resolution passed by Student Government in honor of Brianna, and then hear from Bryan Preston, the Communications Director for the Republican Party of Texas about the direction of the GOP with special regards to the State of Texas.
I'll have a lot of information to cover afterwards, so this is definitely a meeting you do not want to miss.
Also, for those that are interested, YCT has been invited as an organization to participate in the Torchlight Parade, so everyone who would like to join us should follow us to 25th St and Guadalupe immediately after the meeting.
Austin, TX – The Young Conservatives of Texas will be out in full force on Wednesday, September 23rd to show the general public just exactly how healthcare will be run if Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in Congress get their wish. Starting at 10am, YCT-UT will be out on the West Mall of the University of Texas campus running a “Free Government Health Clinic” to display just how poor the quality of healthcare will become if H.B. 3200 is passed.
Our first meeting here on campus will take place on Wednesday, September 16th at 7pm in CBA 4.330.
Elizabeth McClung from 40 Days for Life will be our guest speaker for the evening. She'll let everyone know how to get involved with 40 Days for Life and what their plans are for the immediate future.
I'm also going to announce who I've chosen for appointed officers based on the responses that I asked for.
I've got lots of other things to cover, so you won't want to miss this meeting. Hope to see you all there.
After Freshman Orientation Sessions have finally come to a conclusion at the University of Texas at Austin, I'm proud to say that YCT-UT had one of the most successful Summers to date. We passed out over 2,500 flyers to freshman on their way to UT's diversity program, had nearly 120 people sign up for our listserv, had almost 80 people come to our information sessions, and collected $120 in dues from freshman before they even came to their first YCT general meeting!
