The College Fix

Rule ‘fundamentally goes against the beliefs of YAF,’ group leaders says 

The University of Alabama recently granted the Young Americans for Freedom chapter a waiver to omit gender ideology language from its organizational constitution after a clash with the conservative group over the inclusion of such terms. Then, the school dropped the requirement altogether.

“YAF sees the change as an absolute win. It’s an end to a brief saga of compelled speech, and a win for the first amendment,” Chapter President Trenton Buffenbarger told The College Fix Tuesday.

“And it’s not just for YAF, it’s a win for every organization on campus, meaning that pushback from our club alone toppled the University’s guidelines for all,” he said. 

However, Buffenbarger said he wishes “the University would be more transparent” as it has “not truly answered any” of his questions.

“If all it took was one email to break down this rule, it shows that the administration doesn’t even believe in it,” Buffenbarger said, adding, “No fight is too small, no subject is unimportant, especially if it threatens your beliefs or your rights.”

The conflict arose when the University of Alabama’s constitution writing guidelines required student organizations to include a nondiscrimination clause stating that membership must be open to all students without regard to “gender identity,” “gender expression,” or “sexual identity.” The school mandated that this exact language be included in every group’s constitution, Buffenbarger told The Fix.

On Feb. 21, Buffenbarger told the chapter’s members via a group chat message shared with The Fix that they would not comply with the since-removed rule. “YAF does not subscribe to the beliefs of those categories, and requiring us to do so would be a violation of our First Amendment rights,” he stated.

He also stated the rule “fundamentally goes against the beliefs of YAF and its members, since we do not believe these terms exist, and requiring us to put them in writing is against our First Amendment right.”

“We’re going to side with thousands of years of human history here, and just because the left calls us insane, doesn’t make it true,” he stated.

The group quickly filed a formal complaint, but when Buffenbarger submitted the chapter’s constitution without the required language, the university sent an automated rejection email, warning that YAF could not host events until the wording was included.

“All approved and active UA organizations must have the EXACT non-discrimination clause in their constitution … We are unable to approve your organization for renewal without the EXACT language being included in your constitution,” the email from the school stated.

Buffenbarger said the rule had halted YAF’s ability to host events.

In response, the student group drafted a letter to the university, drawing on resources from the national Young America’s Foundation legal team, stating it would not include the statement, Buffenbarger said.

He told The College Fix that involving the YAF legal team is common practice in such disputes because “it’s good to have backup if you need it.”

In response to the letter, the university agreed to grant the chapter a waiver. By the end of March, the university revised the entire nondiscrimination statement by deleting the references to “gender,” The Crimson White reported.

Buffenbarger also expressed broader concerns to The Fix prior to the school dropping the requirement. “We’re going to be pressing the issue further, as it’s not just us we’re worried about; it presents a much larger institutional issue,” he said.

However, not everyone on campus supported the waiver UA granted to the student group, according to The Crimson White.

“I think that while YAF might not say that they openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ students, and maybe they don’t, their insistence on removing those three explicit phrases—‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ and ‘sexuality’—just sets the tone that LGBTQ+ students are not welcome in their organization,” Bryce Schottelkotte, president of the Queer Student Association, said.

In response, Buffenbarger clarified that his group “will not discriminate against anyone,” and only fought the required nondiscrimination statement because of “the language and [YAF’s] beliefs.”

Further, six left-leaning organizations gathered on campus last week to protest the waiver, including UA Social Work Association for Cultural Awareness, UA Planned Parenthood Generation Action, UA Leftist Collective, and UA College Democrats, among others, The Crimson White reported. 

The groups chanted, “No more silence no more fear, make our voices loud and clear, YAF we call you out, we’ll fight for change and that’s no doubt” and “Down with discrimination, up, up, with liberation.”

The College Fix reached out to Alex House, assistant director of communications, via multiple emails over the past two weeks for comment on the rationale behind the university’s policy and why it ultimately decided to drop it, but she did not respond.

The Fix also contacted Teneshia Arnold, director of the Division of Student Life, UA’s SOURCE Board, and UA College Democrats President Branden Vick for comments. None responded.

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: UA YAF President Trenton Buffenbarger in an interview; ABC 3340/Youtube

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