NEW PATRIOTS Meeting

The presenters include:

•              Professor Ryan Owens:  Ryan is a professor of political science and law at UW-Madison and former Director of the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership (https://thompsoncenter.wisc.edu/ryan-owens-to-step-down-as-director-of-the-thompson-center/).  He’s a conservative.  His part of the presentation shows how one-sided faculty and administrators are in terms of their political leanings.  He also covers the results of his recent survey of UW-Madison students’ attitudes toward freedom of expression on campus.

•              Professor Duke Pesta:  Duke is a professor at UW-Oshkosh.  A conservative, he has had several run-ins with administration and faculty precipitated by complaints from activist students.  He explains how the process works to intimidate faculty, both conservative and liberal, who don’t toe the politically correct line.

•              Polly Olsen:  As a student at NWTC, Polly was twice harassed by administration when she presumed to hand out Valentine’s Day hearts with scripture quotations.  She worked with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL)  and won her suit against the school.  One result was that she was invited to the White House and stood next to President Trump when he signed his executive order regarding campus freedom of expression.  Polly talks about the harassment incidents.

•              Representative Dave Murphy: Dave is a Free Speech For Campus founder and board member.  He is also Chair of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities.  He will talk about his legislative initiatives and our organization’s call for the legislature to appoint a commission to address the lack of intellectual diversity on campus.