Lynchburg Dems take on Liberty

Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

One of my sisters lives in Lynchburg and she alerted me to this story about the Liberty University takeover of the city.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Published

8 thoughts on “Lynchburg Dems take on Liberty”

  1. Let’s not forget that Liberty College is also the school that forced its College Democrats to disband. And it was Jerry Falwell, Jr. who led that charge.

    Normally I would be on the students’ side, but not when the college itself does not respect a truly democratic process or the rights of students to form or join political clubs, except the one approved by its leader.

  2. Stop the lies. LU did not “disband” its Democrat Club. Both the Democrat and Republican Clubs were classified as unofficial or unendorsed clubs because both clubs had supported candidates who were not pro-life. Life is one of the school’s core values. In practice, the distinction between endorsed and unendorsed clubs at LU is not significant. Both clubs are prospering at Liberty.

  3. I dunno, Lee. Let’s do the google, shall we? Here are the first three results:

    http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/05/22/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5034409.shtml

    http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/05/22/liberty-university-bans-dem-club.aspx

    http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/lu_pulls_plug_on_democratic_club/16172/

    And here is “Liberty’s” decision, spelled out clearly:

    Liberty University has revoked its recognition of the campus Democratic Party club, saying “we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by” the university.

    Diaz said he was notified of the school’s decision May 15 in an e-mail from Mark Hine, vice president of student affairs.
    According to the e-mail, the club must stop using the university’s name, holding meetings on campus, or advertising events. Violators could incur one or more reprimands under the school’s Liberty Way conduct code, and anyone who accumulates 30 reprimands is subject to expulsion.

    Hine said late Thursday that the university could not sanction an official club that supported Democratic candidates.

    Of course, Lee will point out that “Liberty” “University” backed off, and basically gave the Democratic club “separate but equal” status. Now if we could only get that nasty Democrat Party to stop those “lies” about the “core values” of “Liberty” “University,” and threatening our “way of laaahff.”

  4. Republicans ask voters to show an ID at the polls and Democrats scream “disenfranchisement!” Yet here they raise money in an attempt to prevent college students from voting. The kids have a right to vote. You don’t like how they vote? Too bad. I’m sure there are plenty of people in other college towns who resent liberal students playing a role in how the town is run. But if the Republicans were ever to do anything like this, all hell would break loose from liberals screaming about civil rights being violated.

    The kids can vote. They get to vote. The Democrats need to stop trying to stop them.

  5. Okay, I’m confused. Are all these students residents of Lynchburg? Doesn’t Liberty have students from all over the country? And if so, if they aren’t VA or Lynchburg residents, how can they vote in local elections? Please clarify.

  6. While I wouldn’t trust Liberty University to do the right thing in any circumstance, I don’t really have a problem with their students voting in local elections, so long as residency is legitimately established. The “legitimately” part is a bit tangled, to be sure, but I’ve no objection in principle. Being subject to the votes of people who don’t really have a long-term stake in your town is one of the costs of living in a college town.

  7. Since the GA has allowed people to declare a domicile for the purposes of voting, the eligibility of the students is a moot point. I think that idea that a dorm room is domicile is mostly foolish, but so what?

    If Lynchburg Dems hadn’t been out-organized last Novemmber, we wouldn’t be hearing this mewling over LU voters. Their base is Ward 2 and the turnout there was noticeably below the other wards.

Comments are closed.