EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Conservatives SHUT DOWN while recruiting on public univ. campus

Utah Valley University required a student to take down a display Friday while recruiting for a Second Amendment club. 

In a video taken by Jacob Hibbard, a regional field coordinator for Campus Reform’s parent company the Leadership Institute, an unidentified member of UVU event services stated to student Sarah Clark that organizations are required, per the school’s free speech policy, to schedule a table before setting up “a structure,” which the university defines as, “Any object (other than objects such as handbills, signs, small lawn signs, notices and posters, armbands, or personal attire) used in expressing views or opinions, including but not limited to booths, buildings, billboards, banners, large lawn signs, and similar displays.”

[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Conservatives told to ‘pack up and head on out’ on public college campus]

Hibbard told Campus Reform that he was using his own personal table at the public university in Orem, Utah.

But the policy states that “prior to the erection of any non-commercial structure, a person or organization must obtain a permit from the Campus Scheduling Office for each proposed structure.”



“I wasn’t surprised when they came to shut us down,” Clark told Campus Reform. “UVU buries students in paperwork just to get a table. It’s impossible to get a club chartered if you don’t already have students, which is tricky when you don’t know if there’s an interest for a group on campus.”

According to the club forms at UVU, in order to charter a club, each group must have at least six members. 

[RELATED: VIDEO: Auburn tells students they need a permit for free speech]

Clark also commented on the difficulty UVU students face meeting those with similar views, when the university restricts their ability to reach students in this fashion.

“Tabling between the hours of 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM are really common,” the student told Campus Reform. “UVU is a commuter school, so most students are on campus.”

HB 54, a free speech bill that passed in the Utah Legislature in 2017, designates outdoor areas of public colleges as “traditional public forums.”

The bill also states that “an institution may maintain and enforce reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on expressive activity in an outdoor area of the institution’s campus.”

“Three groups were tabling at the same time, but we were the only ones outside,” Clark told Campus Reform

The student said that she was tabling on the sidewalk near the parking lot and that her conduct was lawful. 

“UVU’s campus is almost 100 percent indoors, they have [a] monopoly over all decent tabling areas indoors, and I don’t see the problem with allowing students to congregate outdoors to gauge interest with other like-minded students,” she told Campus Reform. “I started a Turning Point USA chapter back in 2017, and it was like pulling teeth. I was a new student to campus and wanted to make sure we had a presence, but finding students without tabling was nearly impossible.” 

“It took almost a month and a half to gather enough student ID’s to charter the club, but as soon as we could get a table, membership boomed. The table is essential to getting a student’s attention and boosting conservative presence on campus.”

Utah Valley University did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @francesanne123