Like many Lancers around campus, when I first saw the posters inviting students to join the TOHS chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, a national organization whose mission states on its website that it is “committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values,” I was curious.
Its featured alumni list includes Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to President Trump and his Policy, conservative journalist Ann Coulter, Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld and West Virginia Congressman Alex Mooney, among others. I was worried about how this conservative club would look on our diverse and active campus, and I was curious about the club’s focus and the topics of its discussions. Even though I assumed it wouldn’t be a club that would resonate with me personally, I think it is important to keep an open mind about various political viewpoints, so I decided to see what it was all about and make up my own mind.
The club meets weekly on Wednesdays, and I have attended two meetings. The first meeting I observed was a gathering to watch clips of conservative political activist and author Ben Shapiro, in a manner similar to a hypothetical Dodgers club watching some of the best at-bats over the years or Kirk Gibson’s famous home run in the 1988 World Series.
Before going to another meeting, I saw flyers around campus with info about a meeting on “how to defend against communism.” According to facts, we do not live in a communist country; despite the obvious political tension we all see regularly, actual communism has not entered the chat. At the second YAF meeting I attended, there was a Canva presentation about examples of communism today paired with discussions about the history of communism and communists across the globe. One of the main points was how those such as Karl Marx have justified political violence, leading to claims that it has been carried over to the United States.
YAF club president Aiden Del Bosque specifically cited Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk, as an example of this political violence stemming from communist influence when he shot Kirk on Sept. 10th of this year. Obviously, the intentional act of killing someone is not okay by any standard, but I’m not entirely sure why this one action makes someone a communist. From a liberal viewpoint, this focus on the Charlie Kirk incident as proof of communist violence seems one-sided and highly politically selective, considering there have been numerous incidents coming from the Republican Party, specifically the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi by an attacker driven by far-right conspiracy theories, or the January 6th, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. In fact, many recent documented threats and acts of violence (often involving guns) have been linked to anti-government issues, which are often associated with the political right.
Noting communist behaviors in our school environment was also mentioned. What struck me the most was when Del Bosque told attendees at the end of the meeting to question the curriculum often and notice the subtle ways communism is indoctrinated into our English and history classes. Despite rumors, an investigation by TOHS Principal Eric Bergmann and Assistant Principal Michael Godfrey proved that no specific teachers were named.
There was continued discussion about how to become a member of YAF and what it means to be involved. It was unclear how many of the approximately 12 attendees would become full, active members.
Overall, I was relieved to see that there was no explicit hatred or targeting of any specific group. I believe that is something we often automatically assume—totally reasonable given today’s society, which is so politically divided and where aggression is not only voiced but acted on. Going out of my comfort zone was a bit overwhelming, but I think it’s important that everyone tries an uncomfortable action, like attending a meeting that doesn’t align with their beliefs, because that is how we learn about the world around us. While I do not know the agenda of future meetings or whether any marginalized groups will be the topic of discussion, it is my hope that all Lancers feel safe on campus to be who they are and believe what they believe.
