A conservative student leader at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, says students face a "big fear" of joining the campus Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter because conservatives remain a small minority on campus."In general, a lot of students are afraid of being ostracized by their peers or ...not being [accepted] — it's a very minority group," TPUSA Chapter President Rachel Cook told Fox News Digital."Being a conservative on campus or even having conservative-leaning beliefs is not a popular idea here.
We have seen a lot of disrespect and not a lot of people who are open to having civil discussion and discourse," Cook added.ERIKA KIRK URGES CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS NOT TO BACK DOWN IN FIRST SCHOOL YEAR SINCE CHARLIE'S ASSASSINATIONCook took over leadership of the TPUSA chapter to promote ideological diversity on campus, arguing that Fort Lewis College needs more balanced dialogue representing different political viewpoints."An officer has gotten spit at when we table, and we have had people be harassed," Cook said."We work a lot with pro-life community members who come to campus and do their advocacy whenever we're not able to stand with them.
Even in these past couple of weeks, people have come up to them, ripped their signs and attempted to hit them.A lot of people choose not to press charges."Cook noted that enrollment in the Fort Lewis College chapter has remained flat as students fear social and academic retaliation.The stagnation comes nearly a year after the student government's high-profile decision to recognize the chapter sparked intense opposition across campus — much of which was captured on video obtained by Fox News Digital.UC BERKELEY SUED FOR ALLEGEDLY STONEWALLING PROBE INTO VIOLENT AMBUSH AT TPUSA ROB SCHNEIDER EVENTDavid Peters, former chair of the La Plata County GOP and a retired Chevron executive, reflected on the incident and its lingering effect on the student group."Their membership has been essentially flat.
The issue is that a l...