Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia 202 years ago.
Jefferson, according to its website, “sought to cultivate an environment in which students and faculty could live and learn from one another.
“At the University of Virginia, scholars, and professors could exercise their ingenuity, develop the tools of self-governance and push the boundaries of knowledge in service to the common good.”
All of that may happen still today, but when pushing boundaries at UVA, one cannot push back on Cancel Culture – as Nickolaus Cabrera has learned.
Cabrera is a first-year member of the school’s Student Council.
Last month, he proposed a resolution condemning Cancel Culture.
The resolution noted that students “have been ‘canceled’ for expressing their political opinion on-Grounds,” and said that the Student Council’s Twitter feed blocked the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) at UVA, a conservative group. (The council later reversed itself.)
The resolution also condemned “all threats” of violence, including those that may be aimed at practitioners of Cancel Culture.
At its bottom line, Cabrera’s measure called for “standing against CANCEL CULTURE at-large – not just on the basis (of) political affiliation, but also ALL other factors” outlined in UVA’s non-discrimination policy.
That policy, according to the school website, says UVA “does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information.”
You think that would cover just about everyone. Alas, no.
The university newspaper reported that Cabrera’s resolution was voted down 19-3.
During the meeting, Cabrera noted that the Student Council had used Cancel Culture as “a guise for political discrimination.” Cabrera tried to make his point by including screenshots that explicitly and viciously attacked YAF members for supporting Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Cabrera apparently tried to get the council to denounce such attacks. But his proposal was deemed too narrow. It was amended to include all students. That was done because supporters of YAF had reportedly slammed some council members.
The revised resolution presumably would include the YAF.
But seemingly unaware of the meaning of irony, council member Ryan Alcorn, who had proposed that broader resolution, suggested to Cabrera that the explicit tweets targeting YAF were protected speech and that there are “consequences” for speaking out.
“Being criticized or called out publicly for your ideas and resolutions is not a symbol of cancel culture — it’s just evidence of bad ideas,” Alcorn said, according to the newspaper.
Although the controversy played out last month, the conservative website Campus Reform reported on it on Monday.
Cabrera told the group that YAF and other conservatives are routinely and publicly threatened and harassed on campus.
“The tipping point that led me to formulate this resolution is the ostracizing that many young conservatives, especially in college, face every day,” he said.
“Many more College Conservatives exist, however we are constantly ostracized for our rational political opinions, making it extremely easy for conservatives at liberal universities to feel silenced and afraid to voice their beliefs.”
But according to liberals like Alcorn, that’s just one of the “consequences” of speaking out against the dominant culture.
Helen Keller once was more visionary than one would surmise by her lack of sight.
“College,” Keller once said, “isn’t the place to go for ideas.”
Keller meant that in a different context, but those who deplore Cancel Culture surely understand what she meant, better than most.
Related News: Canceled: FSU May Be Ready To Ditch Its Founding President
Not surprised. They are federal employee trust brats that want their gravy train to never end