YWC looks for new start with Buchanan

Like Western civilization itself, the tale of Youth for Western Civilization is a rocky one.

Three speeches, two protests, one broken window, seven arrests, two near-elimination experiences, four advisers, and $3,000 later, YWC is ready for a fresh start.

When YWC hosts former U.S. Treasurer Bay Buchanan tonight in the Student Union auditorium, campus will have a chance to learn from last year’s experiences.

YWC will get another chance to host a speaker, Buchanan will get another chance to be heard, and students will have another chance to protest.

Tonight’s speech will be the fourth hosted by the controversial student group, which saw two of its speakers last spring protested to the point of police intervention.

Since its inception last year, the group has had four different advisers and several controversies.

Administrators will have the opportunity to adequately prepare for a protest, something they said they did poorly last year.

Randy Young, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said DPS will monitor the event.

“We are aware of the event and fully expect a civil discourse,” he said.

Due to the group’s newfound notoriety, Buchanan will speak to what will likely be a larger audience than that of her first campus appearance last March.

Her speech occurred before former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., came to lecture in April and was protested to the point of not being able to talk. Another protest later that month also required police intervention.

In September, Chancellor Holden Thorp offered to reimburse YWC $3,000 for the cost of hosting Tancredo, an amount that YWC president Nikhil Patel said will fully fund tonight’s speech.

Buchanan said she was asked to talk about free speech and immigration because of the debate incited by last year’s protest.

“They’ve asked me specifically to discuss the issue of freedom of speech on campus, so I will definitely go there,” she said. 

Protestors, including senior Haley Koch, who was arrested last year for protesting Tancredo’s speech, plant to gather outside the Student Union auditorium in a performance addressing free speech.

“It will critique and question free speech and the marketplace of ideas,” Koch said.

The group will also touch on the assimilation of immigrants, but Koch said she would not reveal the performance’s details.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.