Q+A: Pence protesters had poor showing at University of Virginia

Campus Reform’s Kate Hirzel spoke with Virginia Campus Correspondent Blake Boudreaux about Mike Pence’s recent speech at the University of Virginia.  

Campus Reform previously reported that anti-Pence protests were small in comparison to the audience for the former vice president’s speech.

Editor’s Not: The following Q+A has been edited for length and clarity. 

Kate Hirzel: University of Virginia recently hosted Vice President Mike Pence to speak on campus. So were there any protesters?

Blake Boudreaux: Surprisingly, there were very few protesters. But what happened was that Vice President Mike Pence was invited to speak by Young Americans for freedom. And our student newspaper, the Cavalier Daily, did the typical liberal hit piece on him, calling him a hateful and violent man and saying that his rhetoric put students in danger. And this was not very surprising to anybody who knows UVA, because UVA promotes a culture that is unaccepting of conservative values and ideas. I’ve seen this even in my own time as a student. In my very first semester, multiple upperclassmen told me that I should try to hide my conservative and Christian beliefs and values because if people saw that about me, I could become a target of the radical mob. 

KH: This is not the first time that Campus Reform has reported on the University of Virginia, in the past taught the Thomas Jefferson statue on campus has been vandalized, and there have been calls for its removal. Do you think this limited free speech is the vision that Thomas Jefferson had for the University of Virginia?

BB: Jefferson envisioned a university where people could develop intellectually and speak their minds. But at this point, it’s just become a liberal hive mind.

KH: Pence’s speech seemed well attended. So it calls to question: Is it the small minority of students that are really controlling the conversation on campus? Do you think the majority of students stand for free speech?

BB: I think so. We see a lot of students that don’t want to be lumped in with the radical mob, and they don’t want to be a part of ‘cancel culture.’ The fact that the speech went ahead without any major hiccup shows that conservatives are gaining ground in the culture wars. And it really just goes to show campuses across the country that if conservatives speak up and join together, then there’s lots of reason for encouragement.