By Dan Murphy
Meet Luke Wong, a 17-year-old junior at Harrisoin High School. Wong is one of a few Conservatives both at the school and in Westchester who are not afraid to debate their views in the public. For two years, Wong has been trying to open a chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) club at his high school because “I was really inspired to bring a conservative message to campus. I hoped to open up dialogue. I thought that the school would be totally willing to go for it.”
Twenty-five other students at HHS expressed a desire to join the club and give it a try. Wong claims that in April 2019 his request was rejected by the adminstrators in the Harrison School District.
“I didn’t get a clear-cut reason why,” said Wong, and after a second rejection, he was helped by the Alliance Defending Freedom, (ADF) who was able to represent Wong and shortly thereafter the club was approved with a teacher advsisor.
The Harrison School District claimed that Wong, “provided additional information and made adjustments to the application as requested by the District, and the club was approved.”
Wong and the ADF don’t agree that paperwork was the reason it took two years to get a conservative club at the high school. “They weren’t interested in having my voice on campus, but free speech is really important in high school and college campuses,” said Luke.
“The explanation [of rejection] was different every single time,” said ADF lawyer Caleb Dalton, adding that the school’s position was unconstitutional and discriminatory. ADF threatened to sue on behalf of Wong and YAF if the school didn’t recognize the chapter. “Intolerant administrators, seeking to preserve an ideological echo chamber where only certain ideas are heard, often resort to shameful and unconstitutional tactics to suppress conservative students,” said YAF spokesman Spencer Brown.
Finally, on Dec. 16, 2020, the school approved a staff advisor for the club. It’s not easy being red in school these days, the teen said, adding that young conservatives fear “being cancelled or ostracized. People would label me. They’ll default to calling me racist or just not speak to me,” said Wong, a grandchild of Chinese immigrants who passed through Ellis Island.
Luke was interviewed by Fox News and said, “After I learned about Young Americans for Freedom, I was energized by their ideas of free speech, limited govrenment and tradtional values. I wanted to bring those ideas to my high school, because school is supposed to be the marketplace of ideas. I really had to thnk to myself is this worth it, but I spoke to students about it who thought it was really important.”
The legal argument for Wong being permitted to create his group in high school is that when the school district permits student groups, all student groups must be allowed to meet, according to he United States Supreme Court,. as long as the club and its meetings are open to every student, and Luke Wong’s, YAF club is open to everyone.
Harrison School District Superintendent Lou Wohl wrote that it appeared that the club was not open to all members, but then reversed his opinion and that of the school district.
“The school can make any statmeent they want, but they were violating my first amendment rights by denying my YAF application. Schools have no businesses restricting my free speech. We now have 20 people in our google classroom and it was worth it,” said Wong.
Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960 as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians on American colleges. It was founded by William F. Buckley.
Young America’s Foundation is a subsidiary of Young Americans for Freedom, and is committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.
