‘Enough is enough’: Campus Dems protest ‘bigot’ GOP governor ahead of commencement

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(Photo by Joe Kovacs)
(Photo by Joe Kovacs)

By Alexa Schwerha
Daily Caller News Foundation

  • George Mason University (GMU) students protested on Monday the university’s announcement that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will speak at its upcoming graduation.
  • Democrats at Mason wrote on Instagram that “Youngkin is a bigot” and that “we will not allow him to use our graduation as a campaign speech, not will we platform his ideas.”
  • “As Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university, George Mason University has long standing traditions of welcoming Virginia’s governors to commencement regardless of their politics, and encouraging free and robust expression among its students, faculty, and staff,” John Hollis, GMU media relations manager, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Students at a public Virginia university protested on Monday the administration decision to invite Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to deliver a speech during the May 18 commencement ceremony.

Multiple George Mason University (GMU) student organizations rallied at the Fairfax, Virginia, campus to protest the decision to invite Youngkin and “stan[d] in solidarity against hate,” according to an Instagram post made by Democrats at Mason. The university made the announcement on March 22, in which university President Gregory Washington said that Youngkin’s “drive for lifelong learning and his entrepreneurial mindset is what we cultivate in all of our graduates.”

“Youngkin is a bigot. He got elected by appealing to racist and transphobic tendencies about education,” Democrats at Mason wrote. “At the most diverse school in the commonwealth, we will not allow him to use our graduation as a campaign speech, nor will we platform his ideas. In the past, Youngkin has used commencement speeches as a political tool to push his agenda. Enough is enough.”

Youngkin is often discussed as a potential 2024 Republican candidate.

Ken Meekins, a GMU student, does not believe that Youngkin will use the speech as a political stunt and told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it is common for governors to address graduates during the ceremony. Youngkin is the latest sitting governor to attend GMU’s graduation, following in the footsteps of former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore in 1998, Democratic Gov. Mark Warner in 2003, Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine in 2007 and Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2016, according to the university announcement.

“I doubt he’s going to say anything political in his commencement speech, normally the Governor doesn’t. I think that’s such a ludicrous accusation because it’s the GMU Dems and [the Black, African-Heritage, and Caribbean Coalition], and all of these leftist groups are politicizing this. It’s not Youngkin. I don’t think Youngkin and the school’s politicizing this at all.”

A petition demanding the university disinvite Youngkin has garnered more than 6,500 signatures and alleges that it is “harmful and disrespectful to the many students who continuously shape GMU’s community to bring in an individual who has also neglected the needs of Virginians.”

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“I and other members of our organization think it’s great to have the Governor of the State to attend this year’s commencement,” Andrew Frohmiller, the Turning Point USA chapter president, told the DCNF. “It should be an honor to have the governor no matter who the person is to speak on campus.”

Washington wrote in a statement on Monday that he supports the students’ right to oppose the decision, but does not “believe that we should silence the voices of those with whom we disagree, especially in this forum where there is no imminent threat present as a result of the disagreements.”

“As Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university, George Mason University has long standing traditions of welcoming Virginia’s governors to commencement regardless of their politics, and encouraging free and robust expression among its students, faculty, and staff,” John Hollis, GMU media relations manager, told the DCNF. “Mason is committed to serving as a public forum that welcomes all Virginians, where opposing views can be expressed freely and respectfully in an intellectually and physically safe environment.”

Democrats at Mason criticized Youngkin’s stance on transgenderism and for pushing legislation to remove Critical Race Theory from schools, according to the post. UBU, another GMU student organization, criticized Youngkin for rolling back COVID-19 mandates and said he is “not a friend of the disabled neurodivergent community of Mason.”

“The majority of students who oppose the Governor don’t have a strong valid argument to back up their claims,” Frohmiller continued. “They call him a fascist, anti-trans, etc. but won’t give detailed explanations on why they feel that way. It seems just because he’s a Republican, students automatically hate him without doing their own research.”

Meekins told the DCNF that the “outrage is obviously selective” and a “double-standard.”

“I had Terry McAuliffe speak in my class a couple weeks ago, which was interesting, but he comes here often and there’s no complaint about him,” he explained.

The College Republicans praised the university for their response to the immediate backlash and said that they are “excited” for the governor’s speech.

“I will give a lot of credit to the administration. The have responded well, committed to Governor Youngkin’s ability to speak at our commencement and totally rejected calls to revoke his invitation,” Joe Szymanski, chapter chairman, told the DCNF.

Macaulay Porter, Youngkin’s press secretary, told the DCNF that “Governor Youngkin looks forward to addressing the 2023 graduates of George Mason University and celebrating their tremendous accomplishment.”

Democrats at Mason and BLACC did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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