A UTK CR associate also experienced some doxxing as a result.
Students and some students are scathing about the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s College Republicans ‘ mockery of the university’s” Notice Is” battle and urging pupils to “wait until marriage.”
The controversy began after the university plugged its orange T-shirts stating” Consent is Required” on the front and” Consent is an active agreement to participate]in sexual activity ]”.
The student Republican group took a picture of the advertising and posted a message on Instagram saying” these shirts are so queer and libtard coded.” WAIT UNTIL Union!! “!
Cue the outcry on Reddit: a person posted a picture of the contentious post on UTK’s webpage and demanded that” action taken against organizations like these that are publicly registered yet are constantly making the community feel less healthy.”
More than 200 feedback flooded the website before Reddit editors locked the post, expressing anger and programs to complain about the College Republicans to Student Life.
In response to one of the complaints filed against the party, Ciara Gazaway, the program director for the Office of the Dean of Kids, said the post is completely speech.
We are aware that these situations cause a wide range of feelings and perceptions as well as pain. Despite what transpired, we continue to encourage open dialogue and polite conversation, she wrote in her message, a version of which was obtained by the Daily Beacon student paper.
” At UT, we champion the concepts of free expression, encouraging our students and school society to boldly voice their opinions, whether in help or against numerous activities or beliefs. According to the law, students and scholar organizations are permitted to use social media to express themselves easily,” she wrote.
The College Fix’s request for comment has not been received by UTK College Republicans.
UTK’s Center for Health and Wellness, or CHEW, advertised the acceptance t-shirts as part of its strategy to distribute “awareness about assent and helping to reduce physical assault”, according to its site. Students are encouraged to use the shirts every Tuesday from February 25 through May 6 to show their support for the campaign.
Several other posts followed the UTK College Republicans ‘ original incendiary post, which was shared on February 4, according to photos from the group’s Instagram stories that the Beacon published.
The group wrote on February 5 that it was a picture of the school’s talk code with a laughing emoji and that it was “are that any regular straight guys that are offended or is it all just washed women and feminine men]?
The issue is not with consent as a concept but with consent as a moral replacement for a licit sexual morality, which is the sacrament of marriage under the leadership of Jesus Christ, according to another follow-up posted on February 6.
Additionally, UTK’s College Democrats took to Instagram to express their views on the subject. The group posed and smiled in their” Consent Is Required” shirts, and labeled the caption as “look at our cool new shirts! Here at College Dems we know consent is not political … it’s required”.
Additionally, the College Democrats ‘ upcoming meeting was invited to attend by everyone.
We don’t mind if students attend meetings of other groups as individuals to learn from them or discuss issues; we even had some Turning Point USA members attend our first College Democrats meeting this semester, according to Walker Kinsler, president of College Democrats at UTK, in an email to The College Fix.
The College Democrats described the College Republicans ‘ series of posts as “disrespectful and goes against any healthy attempt at open political dialogue.”
According to Kinsler, “everyone deserves to be protected from sexual crimes and promotions like the” Consent Is” campaign, which raises awareness of such,” ” Making fun of an anti-rape shirt is beyond acceptable”.
A UTK CR associate also experienced some doxxing as a result.. One UTK student was temporarily banned from the college Yik Yak, an anonymous social media app, after inviting users to “flood” the Instagram “DMs” of a well-known College Republican on campus, alleging the group promotes rape, according to screenshots reviewed by The Fix.
The UTK College Republicans changed the date of their Feb. 6 meeting to prevent any potential conflicts if angry students decide to cancel. In fact, the Beacon reported that some students had planned to show up in protest, with one calling the change of location” a coward’s move”.
The Center of Education and Wellness, the Student Conduct and Community Services, the Office of the Provost, and FIRE have yet to respond to The College Fix’s request for comment.
UTK is rated as a “green speech code” by the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which promotes free speech on college campuses. According to the FIRE website,” Green light institutions are those colleges and universities whose policies purport to protect free speech.”
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