Madison Federalist Managing Editor Testifies About Campus Free Speech
YAF and College Republicans president Courtney Graves spoke to members of Congress about free speech and intellectual diversity at UW-Madison
The intellectual climate on many college campuses is “shaped by ideological conformity, social hostility, and institutional bias,” testified managing editor of The Madison Federalist Courtney Graves in Washington, D.C. this month.
Representative Greg Murphy hosted a campus free speech roundtable on December 12, alongside Representatives Burgess Owens, Bob Onder, and Randy Fine. The conversation brought together organizations including Turning Point USA, Defending Education, and American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
Graves, who also serves as chairwoman of Wisconsin Young Americans for Freedom and the College Republicans of UW-Madison, represented Young America’s Foundation. She said, “While many universities proudly claim to be places of diverse views and rigorous discussion, it is painfully clear to me that many universities are failing to uphold their own ideals.”
She pointed to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a college campus and the subsequent celebration of it by members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison community as one of the most notable examples. She also discussed the graphic stickers spotted around campus in November that depicted federal immigration agents being shot in the head.
She said this climate extends into the classroom— “Most assigned readings come from left-leaning scholars, and conservative perspectives are often portrayed in an overwhelmingly negative light. While I welcome criticism of my ideas, it becomes a problem when professors exclusively frame conservative viewpoints negatively and never subject the left to the same scrutiny.”
She said the suppression is “even more visible” outside the classroom, noting that entire stacks of print editions of The Madison Federalist frequently get trashed, while publications without a conservative editorial stance do not. Moreover, fliers for conservative events are often defaced or torn down. She also pointed to the $30,000 in damage caused by protesters when YAF hosted Matt Walsh in 2022 and the $4,000 security fee UW-Madison attempted to charge YAF when it hosted Michael Knowles in 2024.
According to Graves, “Dissenters increasingly attempt to silence conservative ideas because they have found it is far easier to suppress opposing viewpoints than defend their own.”
She pointed to UW System data that showed 61% of Republican students in the UW System feel pressured by professors to conform to certain political positions. She also discussed FIRE data showing that 40 percent of UW-Madison students recently self-censored, and 35 percent believe violence can be acceptable to stop someone from speaking on campus.
Graves said she has found herself self-censoring in class, despite being someone “who is outspoken about my beliefs.” According to Graves, “When I hear professors imply conservatives are immoral, or my fellow peers openly celebrate the death of a conservative activist, dissenting does not feel like an option.”
“One of the most common things I hear when I am tabling for either YAF or College Republicans is that students want to join, but they are terrified of what would happen if their professors or peers found out,” Graves said. “That should never happen at a public university that claims to value free and open dialogue.” She concluded by saying, “I’m not asking universities to agree with my politics—only to recognize that every student’s right to speak freely is worth protecting.”
Graves and College Republicans political director Hanna Anderson Gravelle testified in front of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities about the state of free speech at UW-Madison in November.
The full video of her testimony can be viewed here:
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