What it's like to be a Campus Coordinator, and why you should be one too

During the fall of 2011, I started attending Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and became a member of the Western Libertarians. When the president graduated winter quarter of 2012, I stepped up to that position, and have been in place ever since. In the spring of 2013, I was elected to become the chapter president of WWU Students for Sensible Drug Policy. With those two groups, and then some, under my belt, I had to learn how to facilitate events and meetings, bring in prospects through tabling, and acquire general knowledge about certain topics in a short period of time (eh, college), amongst other things. When the Campus Coordinator position was brought to my attention, I didn't care to become involved.

With a lot of campus activism experience, I didn't think that becoming a Campus Coordinator would be highly beneficial for me. However, I decided to apply and commit to doing my best in the program, feeling that it would still be fun and beneficial in at least a few ways. While doing online training, a lot of material concerning activism was stuff I had come to learn from leading several groups. There were a few tips that I knew would be of use to me. Instead of reading up on all of this in a span of less than one week, I had to learn from months or even years of on-the-field experience. Looking at this information, I wished that someone had been there to guide me when I was learning the ropes.

Not only are Campus Coordinators taught how to be effective liberty advocates at their schools, but we learned about the history and certain tenants of libertarianism. As a student of anthropology and theater, I do not have much time to learning about different political ideologies and philosophies, but Students For Liberty is able to collect the most relevant pieces and help us expand our beliefs from there.

A big difference between being a leader for liberty on WWU's campus and being a Campus Coordinator is that I had to apply my experience on my own campus to others. No longer was I posting flyers at my school, but at others too. My work previously revolved around keeping my groups afloat, but now it's become part of a bigger cause.

Another huge aspect of becoming a Campus Coordinator is getting involved at the conferences. Conferences are a big part of Students For Liberty, and are probably the most rewarding part of being a part of the SFamiLy. Getting to know fellow CCs and SFL staff members increases the number of people you can meet at different events. Networking is a worthwhile means of finding people who may be able to help you find a job or cooperate to hold an event. I have attended both the Northwest Regional Conference and International Students For Liberty Conference as a normal libertarian student, then as a Campus Coordinator. While all of these experiences have become some of the best of my twenty-three-year-old life, I felt that being a CC definitely made the events so much richer. It's pretty worthwhile to have SFL pay for your travel and board for these conferences (as long as you're doing the required amount of work). Paying less out-of-pocket definitely makes such events even more fun.

What's another perk of becoming a Campus Coordinator? All. Of. The. Free Things. Students For Liberty has a lot of resources, including physical ones, such as books. As a CC, you can order quite a lot, which you then give out when tabling, etc. Not only do you get these things from SFL, but they will tell you about what resources other organizations are offering. Not only that, you will probably be emailed by more organizations who will want to send you more things. As a result, your bedroom, closet, and living room is swimming in hundreds of copies of libertarian literature.

Being showered in these gifts has me all like:




Maybe except for the part of being a manipulative con artist.

Even as a campus activist with about three years of experience, one thing that pulls at the back of my mind is finding capable leaders for my clubs. Despite the never-ending search for people to replace me and my fellow officers, not many are willing to step up to such demanding positions. With Students For Liberty, I have more confidence in finding these leaders because I now have access to the resources that can help me with this endeavor. Concerning the Campus Coordinator Program, it effectively trains a number of student libertarian activists each year, and I know it's more efficient than what any one individual can accomplish without the help from others.

If you are going to be a libertarian college student next year and want to join me in Denver this summer (or go to the other CC Retreats in DC or Texas), consider becoming a Campus Coordinator as well. It can be hard work, but you get out as much as you put into it. One of my goals for this year was to expand SFL's reach on the West Coast. It was a little overwhelming to be the only CC in the state of Washington, but I know that I am just one step in achieving the overarching goal of the organization, and if I (and others) can get more Washingtonians to apply, I can really see us persevering within the next year. You can email me at khaffner@studentsforliberty.org if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing the who makes the CC class of 2015-2016, and I hope that you will be joining us, or will recommend this to someone you know.

Apply before this Friday, May 1st!

Why I will never work with the Leadership Institute

Important note: As mad as I am with the Leadership Institute and the individuals who work there, I am not willing to expose identities, hence you will notice ambiguous gender pronouns and the use of "he/she" throughout.

It was fall quarter of 2013 when I was first contacted by someone via the Western Libertarians Facebook page from the Leadership Institute. I was told that if our club worked with them, that they would give us resources in order to help us. While this was tempting, I had to know:

1) Whether or not we should associate with a conservative organization.

2) If the Western Libertarians would still have agency and maintain our independence if we worked with them.

My first year at Western Washington University, the Western Libertarians had joint meetings with the College Republicans. When I became president spring quarter of that year, I decided to still have the joint meetings for the remainder of that school year, but separate the next. The reason for this is that I found that people did not seem to know the difference between conservatism and libertarianism, and I did not want to help contribute to that line of thinking. Not to mention, by focusing more on libertarianism, the club would be able to explore more topics that Republicans generally do not like or touch upon. However, for the sake of networking and access to resources , I decided that it would not be bad to become associated with the Leadership Institute. For the record, if a liberal/progressive organization comparable to them had contacted us, I would have probably gone through a similar mental process.

The Western Libertarians was founded as an independent club - not a chapter of any national/international organization. We take pride in our uniqueness. While we are currently working with international/national organizations and would not mind working with more in the future, we make sure that we are not jumping too quickly into something we would regret. There are, of course, agreements stated by these organizations, which we abide by, such as taking photos of when we use their materials. That, we do not mind because it is entirely understandable and not invasive. The Leadership Institute assured us that we would be able to maintain our independence. Nevertheless, because of what the organization stands for, I would always be wary of them.

The person told me that he/she would be heading around our area soon, and if we would like help tabling, which I agreed to. He/she brought posters to make signs with, went around Red Square to help gather signatures, and gave tips. I was told to call someone within Leadership Institute to learn more about it, and to give the necessary information so we could become a "chapter." (The reason I contacted this person was because the other who referred me would be leaving soon.)

Not too long after that day, I learned there would be a "boot camp" in another state - I forget which one. I would have gone (and dragged some club members with me), but there was a Students for Liberty Regional Conference in Seattle that same weekend. Time, travel costs, and the fact that SFL is actually geared more towards libertarians all contributed to our attending this instead. Afterwards, I became too busy to follow up on whether or not the Western Libertarians became officially-affiliated with the Leadership Institute, but it was always on the back of my mind (and somewhere on my "to-do" list).

Fall turns to winter, winter turns to spring. On April 15, 2014 Campus Reform published an article about President Bruce Shepard and his blog, fueling a notion that WWU was somehow racist against white people. 'Twas then I noticed that an obscene amount of shit turbulently collided with the brisk and unforgiving fan.

Do all of us a favor and actually read what Bruce Shepard wrote.

I noticed this because my WWU Facebook friends were posting the link to this article, saying that the "reporter" did not know what she was talking about. I was curious, clicked it, read it, read the comments (why did I think that was a good idea??)...and wanted to die right then and there.

Soon enough, Daily Caller published an article on how WWU wants to weed out white people.

Hopefully, you know that what Bruce Shepard was really talking about was demographics - if more people of color are coming in to the US and WA, WWU is going to have to have an accurate portrayal of attendees consistent with those numbers. That's all. Simple.

This has nothing to do with affirmative action. If it did, I would have been less inclined to defend my school and our president.

My friend wrote up this excellent piece on the matter.

In response to the national recognition we gained, students rallied behind Bruce Shepard. (As if we did not already have enough attention from the "riot.") One project entitled "I, Too, Am WWU - We Are Diversity" launched on Facebook and Tumblr, documenting views on themselves and diversity, which The Western Front covered.

The Western Front also published this, this, this, this, and this...and I would not be surprised if I was missing any.

One day, these people appeared.

This timing of this was quite coincidental for me. A few days before all of this, I read an article that said that in a few decades, the majority of Americans will be multiracial, which made me happy because I am multiracial and it would show that more people are willing to set aside skin color differences and make families with each other. A friend reposted it, and one of his friends was mad and said something along the lines of it being white genocide.

First off, the correct term would ethnocide - the eradication of a group of people's culture.

While the comment did infuriate me, it did me get me thinking about unintentional ethnocide - is it really ethnocide? Is conforming to a country's standards and practices a form of ethnocide, whether or not it is required by law?

The White Genocide Project is quite scary. It is fairly obvious that these people are masking their racism. Even if they were somehow not racist, their "logic" and "intellectual reasoning" make no sense to me.

On April 28th, a "Diversity Rally" was held - march and the actual rally with speakers, covered by The Western Front.

This is where I personally noticed when some normal, rational WWU students thought the school was taking this too far. "Circlejerk" was a term applied to the "We Are Diversity" response, and I will not deny I was feeling this way too. It was a bit overkill for me. Then again, I guess it could be a personal issue because of the isolation I feel with quite some people at the school not accepting that I am multiracial and bisexual because I look "white" and "straight." (It makes me wonder, how is it that someone can tell someone's sexual orientation or even ethnicity for that matter by just looking at them?)

"I just know this girl is white and straight, okay? DON'T QUESTION ME!!"

Now you may be wondering...what does all of this have to do with the Leadership Institute?

For those of you who do not know, Campus Reform is a subdivision of the Leadership Institute.

When I first found this out, I was embarrassed and infuriated. A friend of a Facebook friend was commenting on something I posted, did his research, and relayed his findings. From there, I took things personally, and felt it was my duty to talk with Campus Reform/Leadership Institute.

From the amount of times and the way I talk about the Western Libertarians, I would think you, as a first-time reader of my blog or as a regular, know how much I dearly love the club and will do anything to make it even better every year. By even thinking of former association with the Leadership Institute, I cannot fully express my embarrassment, both personally and for the club.

Another person from the Leadership Institute/Campus Reform came to campus to film what students had to say about Bruce Shepard's diversity comment. I saw this person a couple of times, but I did not know what he/she was doing because if I had...oh boy.

I received a Facebook message from him/her telling me that he/she was on campus and had a list of students who would be willing to become involved with the Western Libertarians. I told him/her that I was not interested in that list, and wanted to talk with someone higher up in the organization. The reason I would not accept the list is because there was no telling how this person got people interested in the club, especially with what he/she was doing while on campus. For all I know, they could be a bunch of racists.

I tried calling this person quite a few times. First time, they were closed because it was Good Friday - I could not help but roll my eyes at how conservative they were. (While I did grow up Catholic and am highly-respective of the religion, it was the absurdity of how stereotypically-conservative it was of them that amused me.) Finally, I got a voicemail from the person I was trying to reach. Due to the combination of being incredibly furious and my phone being somewhat broken, I never got back to him/her.

Throughout this, it made me mad to this that this organization with potential greatness (for the conservative community) had to resort to immature and unprofessional means of getting attention. We, the Western Libertarians, and I would hope all libertarians in general, understand the importance of integrity and seeking knowledge from a variety of sources. We encourage our members to attend political learning opportunities of all kinds because how can one understand libertarianism and shape your own views without knowing others? To get people interested in our philosophy, we do not have, or feel the need, to resort to desperate measures. If an organization like the Leadership Institute has not and/or cannot accept that line of thinking, what was the point of trying to have a mature conversation with them?

A couple of months later, a friend told me that he saw a cameraperson filming someone (possibly the same one from Campus Reform?) badmouthing Bruce Shepard. Then the person said something along the lines of, "They probably want someone who looks more like her," and pointed to one of the candidate's poster from the AS Elections. Such class. Wow.

What are my opinions on what Bruce Shepard had to say? I agree that the school should reflect the demographics of the state, without  having to resort to controversial measures to do so. Even talking with those who agree with this, they have criticized him for his choice of words. I am pretty indifferent to that. Out of context, yes, that sounds terrible, and can (and has) been easily taken advantage of. However, I also get the point that it was worded that way spark up discussion and debate. I, and a lot of others, found it funny that Campus Reform wrote the article months after the blog post (and years after his first mentioning of it).

It really is a shame that the Leadership Institute feels a need to do what they did. From what I see, they provide great activism training and online resources to groups and individuals who are in need of it. They have the potential to be respected by a number of people from different backgrounds, but only if they could play nicely.

The only way the Western Libertarians and I would work with the Leadership Institute and speak nicely of them is if:

1) They apologized for the demeaning and misleading media published on their site about WWU and Bruce Shepard.

2) They vowed to be honest and did not resort to disingenuous tactics in order promote their organization and to further their own cause, and stayed true to their words.

But what are the chances of that happening?

I really feel like I need to apologize for what they did to WWU. Somehow, I feel like if I kept better track of what they were up to, I could have prevented it from happening.

To wrap this all up, another friend of mine pointed out that if the Leadership Institute wanted to publish something about WWU that was candid and questionable, they would have been better-off publicizing the controversial WWU party bus.

Despite popular belief, you didn't hear that whole "party bus thing" from me.