Last week, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) hosted their National Conservative Student Conference with more than 350 attendees from all across America (and parts of Ireland). While Cockburn already mentioned this event in another article, it’s worth expanding a bit on what was an interesting right-wing confab.
The conference itself had a total of 29 speakers, ranging from Oliver North to Dr. Ben Carson to Zuby. It was held in the local JW Marriott hotel, and conducted via a tight, almost straitjacketing schedule. Staff were constantly hurrying people along to the next event, so much so that the attendees ended up with little free time.
“It’s great being able to interact with other students from all across the country,” said Caitlyn McCoy, an RA from the University of Florida. “It’s refreshing to talk to other conservatives fighting the same fight on their college campuses.” McCoy is a political science major who wanted to sharpen her knowledge and skills after her YAF chapter was suspended from campus, a controversial decision that led to a lawsuit and a settlement soon after.
Twenty-two-year-old Bailey Parks-Moore is a student at the University of Illinois. She said, “It’s inspiring to hear from smaller speakers who were attending conferences like this,” adding, “We can hear their stories and bring them back to campus.”
Moore’s favorite speech was the one given by Trump’s secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, who spoke about school choice. “Parents should have a choice in where their children go to school. There’s some who struggle with poverty and lack of resources, and that’s who we need to empower.” Moore is also the chair at her local YAF chapter.
“It’s surprising hearing from people you’ve never seen before,” said Tommy Kautzman, a 20-year-old student from the University of Southern Indiana. “Each person carries different stories and virtues to take on the woke liberal mob.” Kautzman said he especially liked the speech by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Aside from the extremely tight schedule (Cockburn rarely even had time to sip from his flask), the conference was an interesting experience. Not only was there an open bar (though it wasn’t associated with the event itself), there were plenty of opportunities to learn about mainstream conservatism.
