Kirk Hamm, a law student at the University of Colorado-Boulder, has proudly embraced a life many find laden with shame. No longer camouflaged, Hamm has emerged from his recessed life. He has come out of the closet.
In the process, Hamm has discovered a sense of pride in his alternative lifestyle and has found support from others who once hid, but now walk openly among society. This boldness is sweeping the nation, and unrest among an ever-growing minority is ensuing. Liberals, watch out because the rumors are true: College conservatism is on the upsurge.
Hamm, according to the CU newspaper, The Campus Press, is one of several hundred students at CU who took part in "Coming Out Day," an event sponsored by the College Republicans targeted at fostering conservative awareness and activism. The day was part of an entire month dedicated to exposing liberalism in academia while providing a haven for a minority that often faces merciless persecution on this notoriously left-leaning campus. Conservative Aggies should take note.
The event has triggered a small revolution at the CU campus. It has given many students courage to oppose hostility rooted in the professors and students. In a few weeks, these revolutionaries have overcome liberal naysayers who would oppose them, guaranteeing a free-flow of ideas and freedom of speech - the very embodiment of American institutions of higher learning.
While this incident may seem inconsequential to the average American, it should inspire and even imply an obligation for the concerned conservative at Texas A&M . Evidence of an ideological revival among students such as this compels action on the part of conservative students. This movement could finally repair the damages of a liberal sham guilty of hoodwinking students. It's the lie of liberalism that America can thank for convincing students that liberal extremism is a vital college prerequisite, surpassed in importance maybe by only the SAT. However, thanks to headway made by some concerned activists such as those at CU, there is a force that poses a threat to liberalism's comfortable existence.
A recent study by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University supports this rightist movement. The results show that college conservatism now threatens ideological parity with the left, falling short by only 3 percent, and that an overwhelming 61 percent of collegians approve of President George W. Bush, which should translate into more student votes for him in November than for the excessively liberal Sen. John Kerry.
Otherwise stated, the implications are overt. Conservatism is on the rise, and its members are becoming more vocal. But, even though this is good news for America, a pessimistic reality may still loom for Aggies.
The trouble brewing in Aggieland is that conservatism appears to be drowning. Despite their significant majority here, conservatives have historically hated boat-rocking. So, they allow themselves to be held under by the overpowering force of liberalism - and this force is certainly strong. It is propelled by support for a distorted diversity system, demands to normalize an unnaturalness that would destroy the family and a general aura of animosity toward Christian morality. Liberal organizations such as the Faculty Committed to an Inclusive Campus and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Aggies have ridden the coattails of these tenants to fame, and their names have an all-too-familiar ring for most Aggies.
A&M students can't seem to escape this outspoken, impassioned and motivated minority. Memberships to these groups hardly saturate the student population, and more students are turning to the right than ever before, but liberalism will still spread at A&M if the conservative movement doesn't garner outspokenness and motivation of its own.
One group at A&M with gumption is the Young Conservatives of Texas YCT. Though the YCT's actions can spur debate, no one can argue about whether or not its members have come out of the conservative closet.
Theirs is the only organization on campus to assemble a perceptible counterattack against both gay marriage, with its Traditional Values Week and affirmative action, with its Affirmative Action Bake Sale.
Alone though, the courageous labors of the YCT cannot withstand strong sentiments of apathy in Aggieland. A select few can certainly make a difference - enter the relevancy of the CU College Republicans - but on the nation's fifth-largest campus, the indifference of a mass majority will quash the tiny movements of a select few when that apathy comes in a dosage 40,000-students strong. Lately, the compounding indifference has permitted the University to develop a leftward lean so severe that it should give closet conservatives a feeling of claustrophobia.
Like the liberal stigma attached to Colorado, A&M has a reputation, but it is by tradition the very antithesis of that of the Buffalo. If A&M wants to save yet another of its dying traditions, Aggie conservatives must rise to the occasion.
Liberals have declaimed the curtain call of conservatism for decades - its antiquated heyday passing with the Reagan administration, some say, if it indeed ever had one. However, College Station starves for some familiarity - a rightist encore. Conservatives must feed the need, but they must first come out to do it. It's time to quit the closets, take the stage and bask in the limelight. With luck, it could be the final adieu for Aggie liberalism.
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