College Republicans United at ASU will host the Sons of Confederate Veterans for an introductory speech at its weekly meeting on April 10.
Sons of Confederate Veterans is a group that works to recognize Confederate soldiers who they say "fought to protect their homes and families." Isaiah Alvarado, a freshman studying anthropology and the vice president of CRU at ASU, said they invited the Sons of Confederate Veterans to their meeting because their values align with what CRU at ASU represents.
"We're here to protect, preserve and perpetuate the American way of life and history and its people," Alvarado said. "Today, the removal of history and culture traditions, if you will ... it really takes away from the American experience."
Today, April 9, marks the anniversary of the surrender of Confederate troops at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865.
The event was announced on the CRU at ASU Instagram in a post that said the organization they invited "neither embraces nor espouses acts of ideologies of racial and religious bigotry."
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"If one is to remove that part of history, especially that Southern culture ... there's a really Dixie and southern character that is established even before the Confederate period is, you can go all the way back to the foundation of this nation," Alvarado said.
CRU at ASU has experienced backlash for the groups and individuals they have associated with in the past. In 2020, the ASU chapter was nationally criticized for raising money for Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two protesters in Wisconsin.
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"If (the University's) gonna preach inclusion and diversity, they need to make a space where it's safe for everyone," said Aaliyah Jackson, a sophomore studying justice studies.
Jackson said her class recently watched a video of an LGBTQ+ University instructor being pushed to the ground last semester by members of Turning Point USA. She said the University needs to take responsibility for who it allows on campus.
"If this is a place for diversity and inclusion, we have to remember to protect the people who are on this campus, too," Jackson said.
Alvarado said CRU at ASU is the only politically conservative group he considered joining because Turning Point USA doesn't have enough events on campus.
"TPUSA rarely runs any events. They don't really have any mainstay," Alvarado said. "So we are the only conservative organization that's really holding the ground here at ASU."
There is another conservative political group on campus, College Republicans at ASU, which is larger than CRU at ASU.
Alvarado said the event with the Sons of Confederate Veterans will be to recognize Southern heritage and that people are "really removing a diverse and distinct group within America."
"How else would anyone enjoy chicken and waffles if we didn't have the southern culture?" Alvarado said.
Edited by Shane Brennan, Sadie Buggle, Angelina Steel and Caera Learmonth.
Reach the reporter at alysa.horton@gmail.com and follow @alysa_horton on X.
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