New Recording 13

The guest on the YAF's Campus Report Podcast is Wyatt, who works at Young America's Foundation in D.C. Wyatt describes YAF as a leading conservative organization promoting freedom, individual liberties, free markets, traditional values, and national defense. He shares his experience as a conservative student at the University of Iowa, facing a predominantly liberal campus environment. Wyatt's involvement with YAF started in college, where he found a sense of purpose and impactful opportunities, including attending events with prominent figures like Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles. Attending these events made him realize the significance of YAF and its potential impact on a larger scale. Okay, my first guest today is someone who actually got a job at Young America's Foundation after graduation. This guy ran one of the most successful YAF trackers in the country at the University of Iowa. And now he's on staff at YAF headquarters in Washington, D.C. Wyatt, welcome to YAF's Campus Report Podcast. Thank you very much. I'm really happy to be here. I appreciate you having me, Cynthia. So before we get into anything, I wanted to ask you real quick, when someone who doesn't know what you do or what YAF is, what do you tell them? So when somebody asks me what YAF is, I immediately line it up and I say, YAF is the premier conservative organization on campus. It's something that's going to trailblaze and carry the torch for freedom, the principles of individual liberties, free markets, strong traditional values, as well as an important and strong national defense. So take me back to when you first got to Iowa. What was the campus climate like for a conservative student? What were you walking into? So the University of Iowa, although being in a red state, is not blue at all. Matter of fact, it's one of the only blue counties in the state. So what I was walking into was basically like a blue dot in a red field. And I felt it all the way. I remember getting into Iowa City and seeing these two massive billboards. Or not billboards, but it's like a mural on a parking garage. And one of them says, weaponize your privilege to save black bodies. And then the other one was, black joy doesn't need your permission. And it's just like, what are you telling me? What am I supposed to be learning from any of this? So that was my introduction to Iowa City. And not to mention that, but the stores all around the university, as well as the universities involved, has tons of like, oh, an LGBT person owns this or whatever. So it's very obvious that you're in a place that is far rooted in less values. So it was definitely opposing to me in my views. But I didn't necessarily let that intimidate me until my classes started. I remember, so I got there in 2021. So still kind of in COVID-ish times, like all of our professors still wore masks. A good amount of students still did as well. Thankfully, Kim Reynolds was one of the first people to lift the mask mandate. Bless her for that. But going into it, I remember my very first class. It was a rhetoric class at the University of Iowa. And my professor had a mask on. And there were a good amount of students in the class. I remember him going around. And before the class even started, he places a mask on everybody's desk. And he's like, well, you know, I know that you don't have to wear these masks. But I think that it would be for your safety and for the betterment of everybody else's to just go ahead and wear the mask. I watched a few students put that mask on as well. And by the end of it, I wanted to say I was the only person who wasn't wearing a mask in that first class. Wow. Intimidating. Yeah. It was very eye-opening. It was just kind of being like, well, I guess this is what I'm paying to be here for. Wow. Interesting experience, definitely. So take me back to when you got involved with YES. How did that work? What did the chapter look like? Give me the rundown on everything like that. Yeah. So before I even got to college, I kind of knew that I wanted to get involved somehow. And I was looking for opportunities, you know, just as many freshmen are, looking for just some sort of way maybe to get involved in a club or a frat or whatever, you know. And so I did the most natural thing. I went to my school's horse fair. And I was walking around. I found a couple of right-leaning organizations, and they just didn't really fit the bill for what I was looking for. They were more like social clubs than they were, you know, like, oh, this is going to kind of like change who I am and what I'm doing at this university. So they didn't really – they weren't what I wanted. And then I came across this table of a couple of guys, my former chairman and vice chairman. And it was kind of a – you know, it was a nice-looking table. I liked the merchandise that they had. The banner was cool. And I was like, oh, Young Americans for Freedom. Like, I've never heard of that. Like, what is this? And I remember the guy, my chairman, who I'm still friends with to this day, he said, this is the app, and if you want to make a difference, this is where you do it. And I was like, all right, well, you got me, you know, because that's really what I wanted to do was to make an impact and make people's lives better, you know, not only for myself but for Iowa City, you know. I mean, I told you about what I saw. I was like, this kind of sucks, you know. Yeah, definitely, yeah. Gave me a chance to potentially change that, and that's what I wanted to do. So I joined there. Yeah, that's great. Getting started with it, though, I remember going to my first meeting, and the meeting was only the two guys that I met at the table, me, and then another guy. So four people all together. I was like, is this the right place? Did I come to the right place, you know? And it was really just like an introduction meeting to, like, explain to me what YAP was and, like, what the general goal is. And I had a hard time seeing the vision, if this was going to be something that was going to pay off not only in experience but also in the direction that I wanted to go with helping people. I didn't fully believe in it until about a month after I joined. My chairman invited just the chapter, you know, sent it in a group text. He was just like, hey, I'm going to be going to the University of Madison, Wisconsin, for a talk with Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles, you know. And I was like, oh, okay, like, that sounds cool. And I was like, ah, but it probably, like, costs money or something, and I'm a broke college kid. And he was like, nope, totally free. I'm driving, you know. And I was like, okay, well, you know, let's give it a shot. So I went with my chairman. It was just us. And we drove about four hours, crazy drive. I thought I was going to die. I was like, I barely know this guy. We're going out of state, whatever. And I remember I was getting there, and me going in, and I was like, oh, this is, like, a legit thing. You know, it's a very nice venue. Everything was set up. Of course, Ted Cruz, Michael Knowles, Liz Wheeler was also there. This was a big thing for me. And not only was it my first interaction in a setting like that, it was also my first time meeting Patrick Coyle, who is the vice president of programs at YAF, as well as some of the other chairmen from the area and from the University of Madison. So very cool experience for me altogether. It was my first time working an event. I staffed it as well. And then afterwards, after the event was over, I had a chance to briefly talk with Ted Cruz, Michael Knowles, and Liz. And that was when I realized, I was like, oh, like, this isn't like chess club. You know, like, this is a chance to interact with people who I never thought I would ever interact with and have an impact on bringing people together on a scale larger than I thought possible, because there were probably at least 250 people at that event right there. That was really my introduction to YAF, and that's what made me stick with it. Wow. Well, that's a huge introduction.