By: Haylee Fishburn
A college president has issued an apology following his decision to censor anti-CCP posters on campus and threatening to investigate those involved.
At The George Washington University in DC, President Mark Wrighton rushed to judge posters made by Chinese- Australian artist, Badiucao, hung up around campus criticizing the Chinese government’s civil rights abuses.
Wrighton initially stated he was “personally offended” by the posters and called for their removal across campus. He also stated that the university would “undertake an effort to determine who is responsible” for the posters.
The next week, Wrighton released a statement correcting his quick judgment. He said, “Every member of the GW community should feel welcome and supported, but I should have taken more time to understand the entire situation before commenting.”
Wrighton also stated that free speech allows a way to communicate social issues even if it offends people.
GWU did not respond to YAF when reached out to for further comment.
GW Young America’s Foundation President Madeline Katz told YAF she was “pleased” with the president’s apology., “It’s important that students are allowed to express their political opinions freely on campus. We are pleased that Mark Wrighton released a statement in support of free speech at GW.”
The actions of GW are maddening. While the school claims to support free speech, it has been made clear that they have a leftist agenda. For years, the GW YAF chapter has faced vandalism of their pro-life initiative, Cemetery of the Innocents. Yet, the school refused to make any condemnation of the attacks on free speech and issued no punishments against the vandals.
When the Chinese government is being criticized, the university acts quickly and with little information. But when conservative students are being attacked on campus, the school stays silent. Conservative students must fight hard to make sure crazy leftist ideas are not being indoctrinated in our education systems. The time is now to put conservative ideas on campus, more than ever.
