Clemson Republicans say free speech rights were violated after canvassing event gets shut down
Clemson College Republicans allege that the school threatened to penalize their group while they were holding an event for a Republican candidate outside of a spring football game.
'Do not back down to bureaucrats or the police if they try to make you leave,' the group wrote concerning attempts to shut down alleged protected political speech.
Conservative students at Clemson University in South Carolina are alleging that the school threatened to penalize their organization while they were holding an event for a Republican candidate outside of a spring football game.
The Clemson College Republicans say they were confronted by university officials and threatened with “sanctions” while participating in a canvassing event on April 6 to promote the candidacy of Republican Stewart Jones, who is running for Congress.
Clemson College Republicans told Campus Reform that a number of students in the group were “canvassing for Rep. Stewart O. Jones,” a candidate for South Carolina’s third district, when “Clemson University’s Athletic Department and Police Department threatened the club with ‘sanctions’ and reported two members to the Office of Conduct of Ethical Standards (OCES).”
“We were told by university officials and the athletic department that we were violating their ‘soliciting’ policy and were ordered to take down our Stewart Jones signs and flyers,” the group posted to X. “However, this is not our first rodeo, so we challenged them on this asinine attack on our protected First Amendment right.”
“The Vice President of Student Affairs at Clemson, Chris Miller, has assured our organization that we did absolutely NOTHING wrong,” the group continued. “We will not face bogus violations like the police officer in the video tried to threaten us with.”
The College Republicans chapter shared the video in the same post to X, which shows two men telling the group to vacate the premises outside a football exhibition spring practice on campus.
🚨CLEMSON COLLEGE REPUBLICANS BARRED FROM USING FREEDOM OF SPEECH?🚨
At this past Saturday’s Clemson Spring football game, several members of the @ClemsonCRs were confronted while promoting the TRUE CONSERVATIVE CHOICE for Congress in SC-03, Stewart Jones (@jones4liberty).
We… pic.twitter.com/N90IUSRVd8— Clemson College Republicans 🐅 (@ClemsonCRs) April 8, 2024
One of the officials told the College Republicans students, “I’m not gonna argue with you. I’m not gonna argue. . . . We don’t want to make it a big spectacle.”
“You’re kicking us out,” one of the students responded.
The man replied, “No, I’m asking you to leave. It’s not kicking you out.” He also said, “You can take your signs and you can still sit here.”
“We’re not asking you to leave. Get your signs and take ‘em out of here. You can’t be holding those signs,” he concluded.
“Do you know what soliciting is sir?,” one of the students replied. “The policy says soliciting. This is not soliciting.”
“Listen, we’re not gonna argue the point,” one of the men responded. “You gotta leave.”
The police officer in the clip ran the students’ licenses and informed them that they were in fact violating university policy and needed to stop immediately.
The video of the altercation has since gone viral, receiving hundreds of thousands of views.
”Let this incident be a lesson for any public university that attempts to shut down political canvassers,” the College Republicans chapter wrote on X. ”WE ARE PROTECTED UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT.
”Do not back down to bureaucrats or the police if they try to make you leave,” the group concluded on X. “CHALLENGE THEM.”
[RELATED: University of Michigan regents approves free speech principles: ‘Cancel culture is dead’]
In response to the incident, Congressman Matt Gaetz wrote an open letter to Clemson President James Clements, demanding information about the officer who told the students to leave and about whether the university is planning on implementing any disciplinary measures.
“[N]o student, indeed no citizen on the grounds of a public institution, should have to go through this kind of ordeal,” Gaetz stated. “I’m writing to you today to ask what remedial steps are being taken to ensure a repeat of this situation does not occur.”
Campus Reform has contacted Clemson University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
